END of Justice
by Natsuflado69
Summary: "I'm not a hero. I may do things that classify myself as one, but I'm not. I just know the difference between right and wrong. But I'm still no hero. I just make the hard decisions and with those...come consequences. Besides, heroes wear capes. Me? I wear sandals." Can Natsu regain his former nature or will he reside himself to the darkness in his heart? Find out out here!
1. Chapter 1

**HELLO! I'm coming at you with something a little different. Today, I'm starting on my first crossover story: Justice League and Justice League Unlimited + Fairy Tail. I know, what a weird choice, right? This is the Justice League animated show that aired in the early 2000's. I loved that show and I still do. So, it's going to be taking place in that universe. I've been thinking about doing this crossover for a while now and besides, Natsu really needs more crossover stories. I've noticed a severe lack of Natsu crossovers, but a majority of Naruto crossovers. So, I just wanna help our awesome pink-haired dragon slayer out with a crossover story to add to his archives!**

 **P.S. I wanna give a huge shout out to my beta, Sean Moses. For helping me out with all my stories!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Fairy Tail elements or characters and I do not own any of the DC characters. They all belong to their respective owners.**

 **EDIT: 8/21/17**

 _ **Fawcett City**_

Night had descended upon the city again. The stars were out shining brightly while a full moon reigned supreme high in the sky. A lone figure was walking across the rooftop of a convenience store and crouched down, taking out a pair of binoculars. The figure peered through the binoculars to look at a bank just across the street. "Oh geez, another bank robbery. How original. I mean, seriously, do people really need to rob a bank when there is a perfectly good convenience store to rob. Granted, there wouldn't be much money in there, but how much money would a guy really need when he's on the run?" The figure replied to himself. He sighed to himself and remembered how often a certain someone would tease him for talking to himself. _"Talking to yourself is the first sign of insanity."_ Oh how often that someone would use that line. Jokes on him though…he was already a bit crazy.

The figure could see that the armed robber was alone and was yelling at the teller for more money and pointed his gun at the vault. That was a mistake. Opening the vault would take too much time and would give the police ample time to respond. Fuck, this guy was an amateur. After seeing this pathetic display of deviance, the figure jumped down from the store and calmly strutted across the street and waltzed right into the tense situation. The gunman turned around to see a black cloaked figure with a black coat and orange outlines on the edge of it, a black and white scarf tied around his waist, a draconic mask veiled his face only leaving two eyeholes and his mouth free to be seen and a hood covering his head, white trousers covered his legs, a pair of sandals garnered the figure's feet. The gunman was bewildered to see such a weird figure just waltz into the bank while he was currently robbing it, but the guy must have some crazy nut that just came from a costume party. Oh well, more money for him. "HEY! Get down on the ground and push your wallet to me! Don't make this any harder than it has to be." The armed man shouted at the figure.

Seriously? That's the best he could come up with? "Hmm…nah I'm cool. Actually, I was gonna ask you pretty much the same thing. So how about you do the smart thing and just let all of these nice people go and I can finally head to bed on time because I have to be somewhere really early tomorrow, ok?" The figure replied coolly, hands crossed in front of his chest and foot tapping impatiently. The gunman didn't have time for this and shot twice into the air causing most of the people on the ground to cower in fear. However, the figure noticed one such man who was just as calm as he was. _'Hmm…strange. The guy must be a regular in these robberies or something. I don't know…but he smells…different than everyone else.'_ The gunman pointed his gun at the cloaked man and yelled at him to get down and just give him his wallet a second time. The figure just ignored him and walked towards the serene man. The tranquil man was just wearing a pristine business suit with a black tie, a black fedora, and pair of black loafers. _'Wow…maybe the Men in Black do exist.'_ He walked until he was right in front of him and took another whiff of the man. Yeah, he smelled weird all right.

"Hey, dude, you smell rather peculiar. Any particular reason for that?" The figure questioned the strangely calm man. The man raised his head and gave him a steady look with no trace amount of fear on it. There was just…no emotion on his face. It gave him an odd feeling and he was about to question him again until the gunman was growing angry at being ignored and fire two more times in the air. "Hey! Don't you fucking ignore me, you piece of costumed garbage! I'm the one in charge here and I'm not gonna ask-" The gunman was cut off by a fire ball to the face and flew across the room and slid to collide with the wall behind him. The people looked to him with a sense of awe and fear at seeing the figure construct a fire ball with just his hand. "Relax, I'm not gonna fry any of you or anything. You're safe now. Just hurry and go before the cops show up." Turning around to question the man again, he saw that he was gone. Bewildered, the figure looked around to see the man already walking out the door and into the night.

Before he could give chase, he was surrounded by a mob of people trying to escape the bank. As they were leaving, the police had finally arrived to capture the criminal, which was the figure's cue to get the hell out of there. Moving with the crowd to mask his presence, he departed quickly and moved in the direction of where the man was last walking. His legs moved quickly towards a dark alleyway and heard squishing footsteps going down the alley. The figure moved quickly to catch up with the man, but somehow the man was still outpacing him. _'Ok, this is no ordinary guy for sure. How the hell can one guy run so fast?'_ He moved faster to try to reach the man, but the alleyway ended diverged into three separate ways which went north, east, and west. With his eyes closed, the figure tried to listen for any more squishing footsteps, but heard nothing more. Cursing to himself, he gave up and walked north of the alleyway and into the night.

Little did he know that the man was hanging on the wall with just his two feet. The man pulled out a strange communication device and muttered in a strange language and vanished into the darkness.

 _ **The Next Morning**_

RING!

RING!

RING!

An alarm rang. A loud, blaring sound started emitting from it until a hand finally smashed it to smithereens. "Ugh…that's another alarm clock that's coming outta my next paycheck. Fucking alarms. I just wish they would just make one that didn't make such a fucking annoying sound that just makes you wanna destroy everything in sight." The man groaned in exhaustion, slowly rising for the new day and scratching his head to ease that itch that always plagued him every time he woke up. This man had a peculiar shade of hair; pink, or to him, it was salmon and would just kill anyone that even remoted insinuated that it looked pink. He unfurled the covers from his nearly bare body and revealed a plain pair of white boxer briefs covering his pelvic region. His body rose to stretch and showcased a ripped body; a six pack, two defined pectoral muscles, and toned biceps and triceps.

The young man walked to his bathroom to shower and brush his teeth before leaving to pick up certain someone. He carefully avoided all of the trash that lied everywhere on his hardwood floor. One of these days he would have to clean up after himself, but he always procrastinated either way. The man lived in a very small apartment complex that wasn't really known for its high quality beddings. All there really was in the apartment was a bed, a kitchen, and a bathroom. Just the necessary living requirements. But, he didn't mind it and so he lodged here unless he slept over at the certain someone's house. His foot squeaked over certain plank as he waltzed over to the bathroom and closed the door on his way in. He took a quick shower and reached for a towel to wrap around his waist. Then, he walked to the mirror to brush his teeth, staring at his reflection and his eyes lingered on a certain scar on the fight side of his face.

After rinsing his mouth, he looked at himself in the mirror. He willed his mouth to curl into a smile…then it fell as quickly as it came. "Ok, today's gonna be a new day. A better day." He whispered to himself.

Afterwards, he quickly dressed himself in a black hoodie, a pair of ripped white sweats, and his pair of sandals and departed from his apartment. As he walked down the long flight of stairs that led up to his apartment, he noticed the poor quality of his state of living; cracked walls, chipped floorboards, graffiti everywhere (some mostly by his doing), squeaky stairs, it honestly was the perfect place to live for him. If it wasn't broken now, it would soon be if his history had anything to do with it. His feet carried past the crosswalks and the people and as he passed the rough part of Fawcett City into the nicer part of the city, he could see a clear difference where he lived and his friend did. The people on this side were much nicer, the buildings were pristine and up to par with their building requirements, the food actually tasted like food and not like day-old shit (that was the one thing he would change for where he lived).

Finally, after a 20-minute walk, he had arrived at his destination. In front of him was a yellow two-story house with a grass lawn, a mailbox on top of the lawn, and a picket fence blocking it. Geez, this place was just like the stereotypical after-school special houses he saw on his cable television. He opened the gate and walked towards the door and knocked on it three times. After a couple seconds of waiting, he heard a young voice yelling, "I got it! I got it!" The door swung open revealing a young boy with a slim, comb-over haircut; wearing a red long-sleeve t-shirt with yellow outlines on it, blue jeans, and black sneakers. "Finally, you're here. My mom was just about to throw a fit about me walking to school by myself." The boy said, moving aside so his guest could enter. "Well, Billy, if you just put those bullies of yours in their place, then they wouldn't pick on you so much. Trust me, if you stand up to bullies and show that you can hold your own, then they'll back off. Besides, I bet you can take them." The salmon-haired teen winked, ruffling the boy's hair. "Well, that's easy for you to say, Natsu, but these kids are bigger than me. Plus, they outnumber me too. Besides, if I do fight them, then I'm no better than them." Billy replied back, crossing his arms.

Before Natsu could respond, an older woman walked into the room. The woman was in her mid-thirties and had chestnut hair tied up in a ponytail. She was wearing a green long-sleeve shirt, khaki pants, and an apron tied around her waist. "That's exactly right, Billy. Don't stoop to those kid's level and be the bigger man. I'm proud of you for realizing that." She smiled, kneeling down to give her son a kiss on his forehead. Natsu waved at Billy's mom, "Hey, Mrs. Jones, good morning to you. I'm guessing your husband is already at work. How come you're not at work today?" Natsu asked, walking inside to sit on one of the couches in their living room. As he sat down he looked around to see a plethora of photos surrounding the living room. Photos of Billy and Mr. and Mrs. Jones, Billy's first day at school, Billy and him at that carnival that came to town, and so much more. Billy and him met only a couple of years ago, but him and his foster family quickly became near and dear to him. They probably felt sorry for him because he was a bit of a loner, but he didn't care. They were a nice bunch of folks and their pity didn't really bother him all that much.

"Well, my husband has a very long day ahead of him in surgery today. They also changed my shift at the hospital today, so I won't need to go in until the late afternoon. So, I guess that means, I'm going to need you to watch Billy today, if that's ok with you?" Mrs. Jones asked, cupping her hands in a pleading gesture. Did she really think he would say no? "Well, I guess. Even though I'm gonna have to waste my day catering to this little bundle of joy. Isn't that right, Billy Willy?" Natsu teased the boy, ruffling his hair again in an affectionate manner. Billy blushed at that dumb nickname Natsu had given him and shoved his hand away. "I told you to stop calling me that! Geez, I'm just gonna walk myself to school today." Billy said, grabbing his backpack off of the dining room table and stormed off. "Hahaha Oh I love that kid! Haha don't worry, Mrs. Jones, I'll get him back to you in one piece today, ok? Billy is always safe with me." Natsu said, patting the woman on her shoulder as he raced to Billy. Mrs. Jones ran to the door and shouted, "Thank you, Natsu! And Billy, make sure you eat the vegetables I packed for you! I don't wanna hear from any of your friend's parents that you tried to pawn them off on someone again!" She yelled at her son, smiling as she watched the two race each other.

As Natsu ran to catch up to Billy, a strange voice began to call him towards somewhere. _"If you can hear this, please come to this location."_ A rocky mountain area was sent to him and littering the area were strange white creatures battling a man dressed a bat, a green looking alien-man, and…Superman? He stopped to look behind him, but saw no one besides Billy. He turned his head to see Billy staring at him and walked up to him. "Hey, I know the rest of the way. I can tell that you need somewhere to be and…so do I. Just make sure to pick me up by 3, ok?" Billy said, feet shuffling excitedly. Natsu smiled at the young boy and knew just what he planned on doing. If that voice reached out to the other protector of Fawcett City, then they both had to leave each other for now. "Alright, bro. You just be careful, ok? If anything happened to you, I…your mom would kill me. Be safe, please." Natsu asked, patting the boy's shoulder with a smile. Then, he ran back to his house to gather his gear to meet who sent him that message. As Natsu ran off, Billy looked to see if anyone was in the area and went behind a bush to hide.

"SHAZAM!"

 _ **Natsu's Apartment**_

Natsu rushed inside and closed and locked his door. He closed his blinds in front of his window and peeled back the squeaky, loose plank in his room. In there he could see his mask staring back at him along with the gear he would need. "Ok…I'm all-..." The salmon-haired boy stopped himself. He stared at the clothes in front of him, subconsciously reminiscing about his adventures from long ago, and how he'd start off each of them with this same routine. Starting with his catchphrase...but he couldn't...not any more...

...it just wasn't the same.

After getting dressed into his costume, he crawled into the hole where his gear was and crawled forward until he saw the loose vent he always used to escape into the night. "This is usually easier at night, seeing as how there are less people out. Well, hopefully there are just people who will chalk this up with a crazy guy hopped up on drugs or something if they see me." Natsu muttered to himself, grateful that Billy wasn't here to snark at him for talking to himself again. He finally crawled out of the vent and moved to climb the ladder on the side of his building and just wait for his ride to get here. His hands grabbed the ladder and quickly moved to climb upwards and just as he got there, a red-clad figure appeared on his building. "Of course you're here before me, Marvel." Natsu said, shaking his head.

The red-clad figure had short hair, a white cap held to his red costume by gold medallions with a chain connecting the two, a golden belt wrapped around his waist, gold boots strapped to his feet, and a gold thunder bolt emblazoned onto his chest. "For the last time, it's Captain Marvel! I keep telling you every time we work together." Captain Marvel exclaimed, stomping his foot on the building, which shakes the building. "Either way, it's copyright infringement on Marvel property. So, it doesn't really matter what I call you. Also…DON'T SLAM YOUR FOOT ON THE BUILDING! Are you trying to bring my…err…these people's house down!" Natsu yelled back, shaking Captain Marvel back and forth. "Ok, ok! I'm sorry. I sometimes forget my own strength. But that doesn't matter now. A voice has called upon us and we must heed their call! Come, Salamander, to victory!" Captain Marvel yelled valiantly, pointing towards the sky. As Natsu walked to grab ahold of Captain Marvel, he muttered, "It's _Captain_ Salamander. I tell you that every time we meet." Sarcasm latent in his voice. Captain Marvel turned back to deadpan at his comrade and stuck his tongue out at him and flew towards their location they were sent.

 _ **Secret Government Base in the Mountains**_

Seven figures were standing in a semi-circle on a rocky cliff with a broken bat-carrier to their side. Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Hawkgirl, J'onn the Martian were all in the midst of talking about how they all met up at this location. "Listen I'm pretty much on the up and up on the uptake, but could someone please tell me what the heck is going on here?" The Flash asked, scratching his head at this confusing turn of events he was now a part of. "Not yet. Two more people have yet to arrive at our location." J'onn stated, looking upwards. "Well can you tell them to speed it up a little? I happen to be short on patience, but not on romance for just the right girl." The crimson speedster said, winking at both Wonder Woman and Hawkgirl. Hawkgirl rolled her eyes while Wonder Woman tilted her head in confusion. "I see someone heading fast in our direction." Superman said, pointing above them. "Hurry get back!" Green Lantern said, pushing Hawkgirl out of the way. Everyone quickly moved to get out of the way as they saw a red figure collide onto the area beside them.

Dust spewed everywhere as the figure landed on the ground. Hawkgirl looked to see that Green Lantern was still on top of her and pushed him away. "Get off of me!" She yelled, quickly getting up and dusted herself off. "You're welcome." Green Lantern replied, crossing his arms and glared at her. Voices could be heard inside the dust, "C'mon, Marvel, the last time we met you said you were gonna work on your landing. That was so bad! You almost rammed right into them!" One of the voices shouted. "I'm sorry! I haven't had much time to practice, but I think it went a lot better this time. The crater is a lot smaller this time, see?" Another voice said. As the dust settled, the group saw a cloaked figure with a weird mask and a man clad in red with a thunder bolt on his chest. "They have arrived. Come you two, join us." The Martian called the two people over to the group. Natsu looked at the seven people in front of them and shrugged and was about to walk over before he was pushed over by an exuberant Captain Marvel. "OH MY GOSH! You're Superman! Oh man, you're like my biggest fan! Wait…I-I mean, I'm you're biggest fan! I've got like all of your action figures and I'm currently waiting on the Superman action figure with glow in the dark eyes. Like you heat vision!" Jumping up and down in excitement and shaking Superman's hands with a smile on his face.

Everyone looked at each other with an awkward look on their face. "These are the other two called? I must say…you chose a peculiar duo." Batman said, staring at the two. "Well, when we got the message you three seemed like you were in desperate need of help so…I don't think you can really be picky." Natsu snarked back at the Dark Knight. Batman slightly frowned at the cloaked figure and turned back to J'onn. "So, do you know just what these creatures are?" Batman asked. "I have faced these creatures once before back on my planet, Mars." J'onn replied. Before he could go on, "WHOA! You're from Mars! That's like wicked awesome! Are there more of you? Do they all look like you? Oh man, this is so freaking amazing!" Captain Marvel yelled boisterously until Natsu quickly calmed him down before he had another nerdgasm.

"So, J'onn J'onzz, did you come to warn us from Mars?" Wonder Woman asked the Martian. "Man, this is just too weird? I mean, did anyone expect aliens to just come to our planet because I sure as heck didn't." Flash said, throwing his arms up in the air. "Oh yeah, you didn't know? They mentioned it up on the news a couple of times. Granted, the weatherman only called for light sprinkles of aliens, but you know just how much those guys mess up." The dragon slayer sarcastically replied, elbowing the crimson speedster with a grin. "Believe me, I've seen stranger things." The green intergalactic officer said. "Bet ya I could beat your stranger things with my stranger things." Natsu said, challenging the Green Lantern. "Ahem!" The Dark Knight loudly cleared his throat. "If you don't mind, there are more important matters at hand here." Batman nodded towards the Martian to continue talking. "Spoil sport" Natsu whispered towards Captain Marvel, causing him to snicker.

The Martian Manhunter went on to explain how the aliens had invaded his home and ruined his people's peaceful way of life by waging war on them. Soon after the Martians almost became an extinct race, a handful of them staged one last attempt to eliminate the invaders. The few of them that had survived had concocted a nerve gas that immobilized the aliens and was their last hope at saving their world. Unfortunately, during the battle, all of J'onn's comrades had been killed leaving him the sole survivor of his once peaceful race. "I was…am the last of my race. I sealed up their citadel to keep them in a state of suspended animation. For over 500 years, I stood guard over them. But then, while I was in a state of hibernation, astronauts from Earth opened the stronghold and accidentally revived the invaders. I don't know what they are or where they came from, but I know what they'll do. They are parasites that will absorb any special abilities the people on your planet like they did mine. Those aliens stole our ability to shape shift which will make them a terrible foe to face." The last Martian concluded, voice slightly breaking at remembering those horrible events.

The Salamander's eyes widened at the mention of the aliens being able to shape shift. "Wait, those astronauts never said anything about any alien life on Mars." The Flash said. "Some pencil pusher in Washington probably decided it should be classified information." Green Lantern said. "Or a more likely scenario is that maybe, and bear with me everyone, those astronauts…are aliens!" Natsu whispered, quickly looking around to see if there were any more in the area. The others looked at him strangely and Captain Marvel slapped his forehead in exasperation. "Oh great, here comes another conspiracy theory." He muttered to himself. "Just listen to me! Last night, while I was doing my nightly patrols of Fawcett City, there was this weird guy that smelled different than anybody else. Not only that, but when I chased after him, he suddenly vanished into thin air. If what J'onn says is true, then these aliens have been among us for quite some time, and their first arrivals must have been those same astronauts that first uncovered their citadel." Natsu alleged, rubbing his chin in thought.

"So, we're just supposed to take the word…of your nose?" Batman deadpanned, staring right back at the salmon-haired teen. "Umm…no offense, but I wouldn't diss me based on my powers. Sorry I don't have X-ray vision or the power to shoot laser beams outta my eyes like old Supes over here, but I know what I smelled and what I smelled wasn't human." Natsu argued back at the Dark Knight. "It is entirely possible for these creatures to be doing what he said. They did the same exact thing when they acquired our shape shifting abilities. All they had to do was disguise themselves as one of us and then…" The Martian trailed off into silence. "So, a type of infiltration tactic. Those are always…quite ingenious in a way." Hawkgirl muttered to herself. "Wait a minute. One of those astronauts, Allen Carter, a U.S. senator, is the one who proposed the idea for total nuclear disarmament. Do you really think he's an alien in disguise?" Superman asked. "Well, seeing as how all of the world's nuclear weapons are now disarmed leaving the Earth in a weakened military state, as well as disabling the deep-space monitoring network. So we couldn't detect their activities. Therefore, I would have to be inclined to agree with his theory on the aliens." Batman answered, causing Natsu to smirk victoriously at Captain Marvel.

"Oh Hera help us in this time of need. Please give us the strength to stop these invading enemies from destroying our home. Please…" Wonder Woman began to pray before Green Lantern stepped in. "Now's not the time for prayers, Princess. We need a plan." The green intergalactic officer said, slightly angering the Amazonian princess with his condescending tone. "It may already be too late." J'onn somberly stated, seeing large clouds of smoke rise from Metropolis city. "What was that?" The Amazonian questioned. "It's begun." J'onn replied.

"What are they doing?" Hawkgirl asked, turning her head towards the Martian. "The invaders are nocturnal. They plan to blot out the sun so they can live in perpetual darkness." J'onn answered. "Oh well that's just great. And here I thought they just came to enslave us. I don't know which is worst…or I prefer." Natsu muttered to himself. "So, I'm assuming you guys would get along then?" The crimson speedster questioned the Dark Knight. "This is no joke." Batman bluntly replied. Captain Marvel looked toward the storm that was both literally and figuratively brewing and aimed his body to shoot towards the alien enemies. Before he could fly himself over, the fire mage quickly grabbed a hold of his white cape. "What are you doing?! I have to go help them!" Captain Marvel yelled back at Natsu. "Just think about this for a second! You're outnumbered and outgunned! Do you honestly think you can beat them by yourself?" Natsu asked, narrowing his eyes at the Captain of Thunder. "Well I have to help. It's my duty as a hero, no matter what." He replied, eyes brimming with determination.

Natsu sighed to himself. He really wished the guy didn't have such a hero complex.

Flash smiled at the guy's determination and jogged up to the Martian. "What's the big deal? Can't you just whip up some more of that nerve gas you concocted back then?" The Flash asked, lightly grabbing a hold of the Martian's shoulder. "Unfortunately, no. The gas can only be made from a rare Martian plant. I brought a sample with me, but it was destroyed when I was captured by your human government." J'onn replied. "Great, just another reason to blame the government for." Natsu snarked, keeping a steady grip on Marvel's cape. "Uhh, what's plan B then?" The Flash asked. "We'll have to take out those factories the aliens have built." Wonder Woman stated, putting her fists onto her hips. "Lady, no offense, but this no job for amateurs." Green Lantern replied back at the Amazonian. "Excuse me? We Amazons are warriors born. Want to test me?" The Amazonian princess asked, challenging the intergalactic officer to insult her once more. The Green Lantern moved his face closer to the Amazonian to glare straight back at her, but luckily Superman broke them apart before a fight broke out.

"Wait, let's not fight amongst ourselves. John, we're going to need all the help we can get." The blue boy scout put his hand on Green Lantern to calm him down, subtly asking him to not anger the Amazonian again. "Fine, sorry…you're highness." The green space officer angrily muttered to the Amazon before stomping away from her. "Tactically, we'll have multiple objectives. So we'll need to split into teams." John told everyone. After hearing that, The Flash sped over to Wonder Woman in excitement. "Cool! Dibs on the Amazon." The crimson speedster said, putting his arm over the Amazonian princess, which left her with a widened bewildered expression on her face. "Oh no you don't. You're going to have to keep your head in the game. And not the one you're thinking of right now." John stated, causing Natsu to chuckle immaturely at what he said and Captain Marvel tilted his head in confusion as to what was so funny. "The teams will be this: You and I; Superman, Hawkgirl, and…the big guy; The Martian, Wonder Woman, Batman, and…the dragon looking guy." The intergalactic space officer said, causing the speedster to moan at who he was paired up with.

"Umm…excuse me. First off, our names are Captain Marvel, him, and The Salamander. And before I hear any stupid quips about my name, remind yourselves how most of your names revolve around putting the word "man" or "woman" after your first word. Second, I'm gonna have to ask that you rearrange the teams. The big guy and I are kind of a package deal so….yeah." Natsu asked while repeatedly tapping the Green Lantern on the shoulder. GL quickly grabbed his hand and moved it away from him. "Sorry, but my mind is made up. I've already got one guy joker on my team and I don't need another one to keep an eye on. I need the three heavy hitters on one team so that way they can take care of their factory the fastest and they can help us with ours as soon as they are done with theirs." John said, crossing his arms as a sign that he was not going to budge on his decision. _'Oh I see. A hardass, eh? Fine then. I'll show him a heavy hitter.'_ Natsu gripped his fist tightly and was about to raise it to strike a certain green lantern before Captain Marvel grabbed his arm. He turned back to see Marvel staring back at him with pleading eyes.

"It's ok. I'll be fine. I promise. Please just do as he says, ok?" Captain Marvel silently pleaded, gripping Natsu's forearm before he did anything too brash. The salmon-haired mage looked back at the man and saw him silently pleading with him to give him a chance. To prove to him that he could do this without his guidance. Natsu sighed at seeing there would be no persuading him when he was like this. He reminded him of a younger version of himself…a version of him from a long time ago. "Alright, ok. I know that there is no stopping you when you have that damn look in your eyes. But…just be careful, ok? Don't go being a hero if it means…just please be safe." Natsu whispered, patted Marvel's shoulder and gripped it softly. "Hehe of course. Besides, when the aliens see my strength, they'll be wetting themselves with…wait do they even go the restroom? Do they?" Captain Marvel questioned himself, while scratching his head in thought. "Haha I'm sure we'll find out soon enough. Bet ya I'll be the one to find out first." Natsu winked at the boyish-man clad in red. "What?! No way! I'm gonna find out way before you! Just you watch! Then you'll see just who the leader is in this duo!" Captain Marvel said, laughing boisterously at his future victory.

The seven other heroes watched this heartwarming, but strange exchange between these two and quickly separated into their respective teams. Superman, Hawkgirl, and Captain Marvel flew towards Metropolis, while Green Lantern flies off to the east towards the ocean and The Flash speeds off after him. Afterwards, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Martian Manhunter, and The Salamander go off into another direction in search of another one of the alien factories.

As Flash was running across the ocean and Green Lantern flew beside him, he uttered, "You are no fun." Making sure to glare ahead lest he trip over his own foot and splash into the ocean. "This isn't supposed to be fun. We have a job to do. And we will do it with no other distractions, understood?" John questioned angrily. "Yeah, yeah I hear you." The Flash muttered to himself.

 _ **Ridge near a Tropical Forest**_

Underneath the cliff, there lies an alien factory that teetered several hundred feet off of the ground with other alien guardians' vehicles guarding it from any potential enemies. The alien vehicles stood twenty feet tall, with arachnid-like legs supporting it; they were pale white and large red spheres protruded from their heads. On top of the cliff, The Flash and Green Lantern looked below to stare at the surroundings between themselves and the alien factory. "That's our target. Now, here's the plan." John turned toward The Flash to recite his plan to the speedster. However, before he could tell him anything, "What plan? We kick their butts. That's our plan, right?" The Flash stated, cockily smirking towards the green space officer. John sighed in exasperation, "Let's just get this over with ok, hotshot?" In response, the crimson speedster sped off towards the enemy leaving the Green Lantern to once again sigh to himself. _'Maybe I should have traded with one of the others instead of sticking myself with this idiot.'_

The Flash zoomed off down the cliff and stopped right in front of one of the alien vehicles. He whistled to get its attention, "Hey! Over here! Come on, I know you can hear me!" The alien vehicle turned around and blasted a laser shot straight towards the crimson speedster. He zoomed to the right to quickly avoid it, "Haha you missed me! Come on, my grandma can shoot better than you!" Afterwards, he sped off to gather the attention of the other alien vehicles, which also led to them firing their lasers at him. Unfortunately, as the speedster was zooming around the battlefield, he failed to see an alien mine placed on the ground as he ran right over it; causing him to be blown off the ground and into the air where he quickly fell straight down into a pile of strange alien goo. His head popped out of the goo, blowing a bubble of the goo out of his mouth and tried to escape only to see his efforts were in vain by the strong elasticity of the alien slime. The Green Lantern watched all this and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation, "Fool." He illuminated himself with a green glow and flew off to save the cocky hotshot from being made into a gooey alien pancake.

The Flash continued trying to escape the alien substance, but saw an alien vehicle right in top of him. He could see it charging it's laser right at him and gulped in fear, "Oh mommy…" Luckily, "Hang tight there, Hotshot." John said, as he used his ring to fire a laser blast of his own straight through the alien vehicle's leg, which caused it to tumble and fall straight down. The Flash sighed in relief and called for his new green pal to help him out of his rut, "Um…hehe a little help here. While this stuff does feel kinda comfortable, I feel like I'm a little more helpful on solid ground." John sighed in frustration and muttered, "Hang on. Man, I really hope the others are having an easier time than we are."

 _ **Cairo, Egypt**_

Another alien factory reigns supreme, towering over the various pyramids in its vicinity. Beneath the factory, there lay various other pillars and rock formations. Behind one of the rock formations, Batman poked his head out and looked from side to side to see if any other aliens were around them. He looked up to see an alien vehicle coming their way and ducked his head behind the formation before it could see them. After it's shadow passed by them, Batman peeked out once again, as well as Wonder Woman to glance around. "Hiding like cowards is not the Amazon way. I say we charge straight towards our enemy and vanquish them instead of hiding in the darkness." Wonder Woman stated valiantly. Batman quietly shushed her before any aliens heard or saw them.

"Believe me, the darkness can be your ally in many cases, if you have the patience to stand around in it. First though, we have to find their weakness, and once we do, then we strike." Batman replied back to the Amazonian princess, rubbing his chin in thought about what kind of weakness these aliens must have. "I'm with Batman on this one. I've used the dark to 'vanquish' my enemies plenty of times. You'd be surprised by how little people look into the darkness. It frightens them and all you have to do is use their own fear against them. Then, wale on them until they cry for mercy." Natsu replied, rubbing his hands in delight at remembering how many foes he's beaten using that tactic. "I see. Although, I prefer to fight my enemies head-to-head instead of in the cloak of darkness. It's how I was raised to fight." The Amazonian princess said back to the dragon slayer. He shrugged his shoulders, "Meh, to each their own I guess. I respect that. Maybe one of these days we duke it out and see which is better, eh?" Wonder Woman smirked back at his challenge and nodded her head in affirmation.

J'onn then phased through the ground upwards to return to his comrades to tell them what he had learned, "I have scouted the outer walls. There are no openings." Wonder Woman then moved past the three men in front of her, "Then we'll just make our own then." She then flew into the air and charged straight for one of the alien vehicles. Before the Martian could stop her, Batman put a hand on his chest, "Wait, let's see what she can do first."

As she flew into the air, Wonder Woman untangled her lasso from her waistband and unfurled it to swing it in the air. She ducked underneath one of the alien's legs and lassoed the other leg; flying around its other legs and pulled with all of her strength to vanquish this foe. "Hera, give me strength." She yelled to herself as she pulled the lasso towards her chest; causing the alien vehicle's legs to tie close together and forced it to fall right on top of the alien factory it was guarding. Thanks to the fallen vehicle, an opening had formed right where its lifeless body was. "There is your opening." Said the Amazonian Princess, as she pointed towards the breach she had created for them to enter. She then flew into the hole, leaving behind one surprised Martian, a blank-stare Batman, and an excited dragon slayer. "Oh my gosh…does anyone like her? Because I seriously like her. Can I keep her?" He said to his fellow heroes, clapping in excitement at seeing what else these people could do. "Not bad." The Dark Knight muttered to himself and went to follow the Amazonian into the breach.

The three heroes entered after the Amazonian princess and saw that she was currently busy with more enemies. Several aliens moved to fire several laser beams straight at the demigoddess, but were all deflected by her bracelets. Seeing three more enemies amongst their ship, the aliens retreated further into their stronghold. "They run like cowards. What are you waiting for?" Wonder Woman question her fellow warriors and sped off to chase the aliens. The Martian Manhunter and Salamander followed after here, while Batman looked to an incoming sunray fly right in front of his face. _'Nocturnal…plotting to envelop the Earth in darkness…of course they would be. How cliché.'_ The Dark Knight thought to himself as he calmly walked through the alien factory.

 _ **Metropolis City**_

In the center of the city, an alien factory is blowing smoke straight into the atmosphere; causing the city to be enveloped in a state of darkness without any light to give them hope. A destroyed alien vehicle was being repeatedly smashed by an enraged Hawkgirl as it was being consumed by the flames. "Stupid aliens! How do you like my mace, huh?! I bet it tastes really painful!" She yelled louder and louder with every strike that she befell against the alien vehicle. Captain Marvel gulped on the sidelines as he watched this and made a mental note not to ever make her angry. He quickly dodged a swing of another one of the alien vehicle's legs and charged straight through the hull of it; ripping through the interior and coming straight out of it with a gooey substance all over him. "Oh gross! Oh man, now I'm gonna have to take like three showers when I get home. My mom is gonna kill me when she sees how dirty I am." He muttered to himself, trying to get as much of the alien gunk off of him.

Superman flew in to assist Hawkgirl and punched through one of the legs; dislodging it from the body and threw it straight at the alien factory in front of them and causing it to create a gap for them to fly into. "WOW! Oh my gosh! You are even awesomer in person! Oh man, oh man, can I get your autograph after this is over, please?" Captain Marvel said, flying in front of the Kryptonian and clapped his hands together in a pleading gesture. "Umm…let's put a pin in that until for later, ok?" Superman said, sweatdropping a bit at seeing just how excited the guy was. "Yeah, how about a little more destroying and a little less yapping" Hawkgirl said as she flew straight into the hole Superman had created.

Both Captain Marvel and Superman followed in after her and landed on the weird, purple alien floor inside. "Wow, this is like…so weird. In a cool way though." Captain Marvel muttered to himself, touching the strange alien interior. "Watch yourself, Mr. Marvel. We don't know much about these creatures so we shouldn't let our guard down." Superman warned him. "Umm…oh yeah, of course. I was just…testing to see if it was safe…for us to touch. It's safe!" He yelled back the Kryptonian. "SHHH! Be quiet! Why don't you just tell the enemy we're inside here!" Hawkgirl whispered vehemently back at Captain Marvel. "S-sorry." He muttered quietly, touching his index fingers in an embarrassed fashion.

The three of them walked deeper into the alien factory; making sure to be ready for anything that would come their way. Laser beams shot straight at them, fortunately missing them. "Stay back! I'll-" Superman was about to say before Hawkgirl flew off in front of him and swung her mace; swiping away the aliens from their path. The aliens quickly got up and tried to swarm her before Captain Marvel flew in to join the fight. An alien swung their gun at his face, but he swiftly side-stepped the space invader and swung his fist to collide with its face; causing the alien to fly into the wall and making it into a mushy paste. "Whoops! Sorry, but next time be a nicer extraterrestrial. Like E.T.!" He yelled towards his vanquished foe. Captain Marvel turned to face the rest of them, but saw that Hawkgirl was currently beating them all. One alien grabbed a hold of her from behind, but she quickly headbutted it and swung her mace to hit it; causing it to collapse to the floor. Two more aliens began shooting at her, but were deflected by her mace and she bashed her mace against the alien's bodies making them fly off into the wall adjacent to her. Several aliens were on the ground defeated and Hawkgirl was at the center of it all.

"Whoa." Superman and Captain Marvel muttered at the same time, looking at Hawkgirl with shock. "What? There's a time for words and there's time for action." She said as she walked past the surprised Superman and the amazed Captain Marvel. "So cool! Oh man, I got to get her autograph when this is done too!" He said, running after her. Superman shook his head in amusement and followed the two deeper into the alien factory.

 _ **Green Lantern and Flash**_

"Of all the idiotic, bone-headed, glory-grabbing moves. Haven't you ever heard the word teamwork?" Green Lantern said insultingly, as he used his ring to shoot through the alien goo that trapped the Flash. Before the Flash could come up with a hilarious quip, he looked behind the Green Lantern to see something that would cause them even further trouble. "Umm…maybe you should save the inspirational speeches for later." He said, moving his head to point out the danger behind them. John turned his head and his eyes widened as he gathered the Flash in a green bubble and flew to the side, narrowly avoiding a laser beam headed straight for them. "Thanks. You know, you're a real pal." The crimson speedster said, smiling at the save. "Yeah, yeah. Don't mention it. Now this time, follow my lead and try not to get yourself caught in any more of that alien gunk, ok?" John said, flying off towards the other two alien vehicles. "Roger that!" The Flash replied, zooming off towards the two enemy vehicles.

John quickly created a shield to deflect the oncoming lasers from hurting him. However, the alien vehicles then began to emit a yellow gas that caused the Green Lantern to begin coughing. The Flash saw that the gas was affecting him and whirled his hands into two mini twisters to blow the gas away; revealing an unconscious Green Lantern. "G.L.!" The Flash yelled before the alien vehicles aimed their lasers right at them. "Uh oh. Gotta run!" He said, grabbing the unconscious Green Lantern and speeding away from the alien vehicles.

 _ **Superman, Hawkgirl, Captain Marvel**_

The three heroes were currently flying inside the alien factory and watched carefully for any ambushes that could befall them. They flew through a hole and landed near another opening. "They're close by. I can almost smell them."Hawkgirl stated, gripping her mace tighter. Captain Marvel quickly gripped his nose to ward off any of the alien stink that Hawkgirl was smelling before he smelt it. "Are you always so eager to fight?" Superman asked. "My home, Thanagar, a warlike world. There, one must strike first or die." She replied back to the Kryptonian, before more aliens shot towards them and quickly retreated into another opening; sealing the exit behind them. Hawkgirl tried to give chase, but it was too late. Superman looked behind him to see that the way they came in was also closing behind them. "Oh no, we're trapped!" Captain Marvel yelled, trying to smash the door open, but somehow his strength was being drained.

A yellow gas flooded the room. Hawkgirl started to cough and fell to floor. She tried to raise herself, but her strength was leaving her. Superman tried to open the other door on the opposite side of the room, but an electric shock zapped him and he fell to the floor unconscious. The gas enveloped the three heroes, causing them to collapse to the floor unconscious.

 _ **Wonder Woman, J'onn, Batman, Natsu**_

Wonder Woman deflected several lasers that were shot towards her. "They've blocked us off again. It's almost as if they know what we're thinking." She said to her comrades. Batman quickly surveyed their surroundings and grabbed an explosive batarang. He pressed a button on the batarang and threw it towards the aliens; causing small explosion that scared them off. "Any ideas, J'onn." The Dark Knight said, turning back to look at the Martian. The Martian's eyes began to glow orange. "J'onn!" He yelled at the Martian. "Superman, Hawkgirl, and Captain Marvel are down. They have failed." J'onn somberly said, lowering his head. "What? Are you sure?" Wonder Woman asked worryingly. J'onn nodded. A strike of fear flooded Natsu. He grabbed a hold of J'onn, "What do you mean they failed? What happened to them? Come on, tell me! You have to know!" Natsu yelled desperately, tightening his grip on the Martian. Batman quickly pulled him off of J'onn; causing Natsu to swing around and glare at him, "Get a hold of yourself! Right now we have to a worry about ourselves! Otherwise, we won't be able to help them!" The Dark Knight yelled. Natsu gripped his hands tightly, but nodded all the same. He was right.

J'onn pointed towards an opening near them. "Come! This way!" He yelled, moving towards the door. The three of them followed after him and ran through the alien factory to escape. Aliens shot at them from behind and they narrowly avoided the lasers from hitting them. An opening was above them and Wonder Woman and J'onn floated up towards it. Wonder Woman looked down to see Batman and Salamander still down there, "Come on!" She yelled, moving her hand in a "follow me" motion. Batman reached for his grappling hook, but stopped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. "I got ya." Natsu said as he grabbed a hold of him and ignited his feet to make them rise towards the opening above them. They reached Wonder Woman before any of the aliens could reach them and ran into the opening. "You can wield fire?" Wonder Woman questioned the dragon slayer. "I can do more than you know, but let's stay focused at escaping first, ok?" He said as he ran deeper into the opening. They all turned a corner and Wonder Woman looked to see if they were still being followed. Luckily, the coast was clear.

"We've lost them." She said. "For now anyways." Batman replied, grabbing his electric brass knuckles from his utility belt. "Look. It's the central core." J'onn said, pointing at a heaping red spherical mass in the center of the room. Several aliens were seen working on alien machines that seemed to be powered by that red sphere. "How can we shut it down?" Batman asked. "The ion matrix crystal. If we can remove it, we can shut down the whole plant." J'onn replied back, pointing towards smaller red object inside the red sphere. "I'll need a diversion." The Martian said. An explosion erupted from the side of them, enveloping heaps of aliens in flames. "Like that?" The Dark Knight said, pointing at the salmon-haired boy charge straight towards the aliens.

Natsu ran straight for an alien and ignited his fist to pummel the breath out of it. " **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!"** He yelled, ramming his fist into the alien's face causing it to fly into its friends behind it. He turned his body sideways to point his face towards a row of other aliens, " **Fire Dragon's Roar!"** His mouth spewed out waves of reddish flames as they enveloped the aliens; their painful screams echoing throughout the room by the extreme heat. Natsu then somersaulted over the burning aliens and spewed out more fire from his mouth burn more aliens and head for that red sphere. "Well, there's your distraction." Wonder Woman smirked. "Here's another one then." Batman said, throwing a batarang at a hanging pillar; cutting it in half which spewed a blackish liquid on top of two aliens. So not to be outdone, Wonder Woman moved her body to grab a hold of an alien electrical plug and pulled it to shock several aliens while smoke blew out of the gaping hole where the plug was.

J'onn quickly phased through the floor going for the ion matrix crystal, while Wonder Woman deflected several laser bullets coming her way. Batman dived out of the way and landed in front of one of the aliens. He armed his electric brass knuckles and swung his fist towards the alien; electrifying it into submission and dissolving into a pool of gunk. Near the ion matrix crystal, an alien was typing several buttons on its machine while J'onn phased upwards through the floor and threw the alien from its station down into the abyss. J'onn reached into the red sphere and grabbed the crystal between his two hands. Explosions rattled the ship and distracted J'onn while an alien surprised him from behind with a laser beam to his back; making him drop the crystal and plummeting to the ground. "J'onn!" The Amazonian screamed as she flung several aliens aside with an unconscious member of their brigade and flew towards the Martian. Wonder Woman checked to see for signs of life and saw that he was breathing. She breathed a sigh of relief at that. "Get him out of here!" Batman yelled as he averted an alien's jab and came back with his own punch to its face.

Natsu grabbed an alien by its head and headbutted it; causing it to roll to the ground in pain. He turned to see swarms of aliens coming in through the various holes in the room. "We seriously need to get out of here! Like…NOW!" He yelled, grabbing an incoming alien's fist and responded with a breath full of fire in return. Wonder Woman looked to see that they were beginning to become surrounded and grabbed the unconscious Martian and flew away from the incoming aliens. She looked ahead of her to see the exit slowly closing and went faster in hopes of being able to make it. Several aliens were running towards Batman and he looked behind him to see the crystal laying a couple feet away from him. Shooting his batarang towards the closing exit, he moved his body to grab the crystal and scooped it up before any aliens' hands could grab it. Natsu gathered a mouth full of fire and spewed it into a line going to block the incoming aliens. He then hurried towards the closing exit; running as fast as his legs could take him.

Wonder Woman flew full speed ahead and was able to barely make it before the door could seal shut. Unfortunately, also sealing the fates of both Batman and Natsu with it. Batman quickly tried to break the door open with his brass knuckles with the aid of Natsu's inflamed fists. It wouldn't budge. They both turned around to see a number of aliens swarming in on them; closing any hope for escape. "Batman! Salamander!" Wonder Woman yelled as she tried to budge the door open. Batman sighed and threw the crystal away while readying his body for battle. "Any regrets?" Natsu muttered towards the Dark Knight. Batman looked towards the onslaught of aliens surrounding them. "Just one." He sighed. "Yep…me too." Natsu replied, gripping his hands tightly.

Gunfire was heard on the other side of the door. Silence followed afterwards.

"No!" The Amazonian cried, trying desperately to open the door. Finally, she collapsed in front of the door in frustration. She felt a hand be placed on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, but there's nothing we can do for them now." J'onn said, gripping his hand on her shoulder softly. Wonder Woman looked back at the Martian, "Y-you don't mean they're…" J'onn nodded solemnly in reply. "Gone." He said. The Amazonian gasped and held her hand to her mouth in sadness. "Hera, help us." She whispered.

 _ **Observatory**_

A man clothed in protective gear was welding the finish touches on a recently destroyed satellite and breathed a sigh of relief. "Phew, I thought this would never be finished." He muttered to himself. The man lifted his helmet revealing a head of black hair and brown eyes. " _Yeah, and none too soon because…I'm sensing something really big heading our way."_ A voice was heard on his earphones. "Well…how big are we talking?" The man asked.

 _ **Space**_

A behemoth level spaceship slowly edged its way closer and closer to Earth. It's objective? Total annihilation of the human species. There would be no negotiating with it. No mercy for its victims. That was all that was promised and the creatures aboard it would follow out this order with great malicious pleasure.

 _ **Metropolis City**_

Dark clouds covered the sky and lightning erupted from the heavens with a sense of careful foreboding. " _The government is reporting that something five times the size of the previous alien vehicles will soon be touching down in our planet's atmosphere at any moment. Senator Carter had this to sa…"_ Glass shattered and the message silenced revealing two males robbing an electronics store. "Cool! I always wanted one of these!" A man with blonde hair and dressed in a pink shirt, black pants and black shoes said as he grabbed a hold of the television. "Umm…I don't think we should be doing something like this. We could get in serious trouble for this." Another man muttered to his friend; the other man dressed in a blue and yellow shirt and gray pants with gray shoes and a blue and yellow beanie to match his shirt. His feet shuffled away from his thieving friend. "Listen, man! It's the end of the freaking world! Who gives a shit if we steal a couple of useless things like this? Our days are numbered and I'm gonna do whatever the hell I want now that I can. Now, you can either follow me or get lost." He said with a tone of finality and hustled away from his cowardly chum. The cowardly man looked side to side to see if anyone was looking and saw scared people everywhere; people graffiting walls, looting stores, flipping cars, beating on each other. No police officers were stopping this. How could they?

It was utter chaos.

Atop a skyscraper, two figures were seen looking down at these people. "Perhaps my mother was right about mankind. 'They're nothing but untamed savages.'" She muttered to herself, as she saw a man throw a steel trash can though a window. "Do not judge them too harshly. They act out of fear. Who among us can keep their sanity when they believe their entire life is at an end?" He replied, staring down at these people with a sense of pity for the poor souls. His eyes wandered until he saw two men amongst the chaos trying to budge a large piece of concrete away from a doorway. "Hey! There's some kids trapped in here! Someone give us a hand! Please!" They shouted while trying to move the piece of debris. Their muscles bulged in exertion, but neither of their efforts could move it. "See? Even amongst all the darkness, there is light if one cares to look for it." J'onn said softly, glancing towards Wonder Woman. The Amazonian looked intensely at how hard the men were trying to help their fellow men, or children in this case, and smiled slightly.

A green glow illuminated the piece of concrete and it lifted upwards; freeing the small children from inside the building. Green Lantern grunted as he used the power of his ring to move the piece of concrete. Two small children were seen inside the doorway huddled in fear. The men quickly grabbed the scared children and thanked the Green Lantern before moving to take the kids to safety. John looked upwards to see both Wonder Woman and the Martian and flew up to them. A red zoom was seen and the Flash swiftly sped up to meet his comrades on top of the skyscraper. John landed near the two other heroes while the crimson speedster stopped right on the edge of the skyscraper.

"Sorry we're late, but we had to stop to help some civilians." John said. "Yeah, what d'ya call us back for?" The Flash asked. Wonder Woman moved past them and pointed towards the alien factory in the distance. "Superman and the others have been captured. They're located somewhere inside that factory." She answered. The Flash groaned as Green Lantern asked, "And Batman and the kid?" Wonder Woman lowered her head at the mention of those two. "They acted heroically…to the very end." The Martian replied sadly. "Whoa whoa…the bat…and the kid are both gone? Y-you've gotta be joking, right? Right?" The Flash asked desperately, face drooping in shock. "They were both true warriors and they will both be avenged. This I swear." The Amazonian princess said with an aura of resolve surrounding her.

The heroes then moved ahead towards the alien factory and stopped behind some debris to hide themselves from sight. "I seriously can't believe we're doing this again" The Flash groaned at remembering just how much he and G.L. failed the last time. 'If Superman, Hawkgirl, and Captain Marvel are in there, someone's gotta rescue 'em." John replied back to the crimson speedster. "Now, you are still sure they are all in there, right?" G.L. said, turning to the green Martian. "Yes, you're friends are alive and they need assistance as soon as possible. However, we must hurry. The Imperium is coming." J'onn replied back to John. "Who?" The Flash asked in confusion. "The supreme intelligence that controls all of these invaders. We have met before. It was…not a pleasant experience and certainly one I care not to repeat." He muttered to himself.

The Flash eyed the Green Lantern and whispered, "Can we trust this space case?" "What choice do we have?" G.L whispered back. John rose and looked towards the alien factory in the short distance. "Ok, we're going in. Flash, we're gonna need a distraction. Diana, watch my back." He said to each of them. Wonder Woman smirked in response. "Do you really want to rely on an amateur?" She joked, putting her hands on her hips. John didn't dignify that with a response and flew upwards to leave the conversation as is. The four heroes knew what they needed to do.

They were going to save their friends.

The Flash sped quickly sped off; zooming underneath another one of the large alien vehicles guarding the factory. He zoomed back and forth to get the alien's attention. His hand reached for a rock on the floor and chucked it towards its head; having it turn its head towards him. The Flash swung his hands in the air, "Yoohoo, Mr. Alien! Tag, you're it!" He then winked and stuck his tongue out and sped away from it. The alien vehicle fired laser beams at him; all missing its target. Smoke billowed from its shots and revealed a bored looking Flash leaning on a peculiar looking rock. "Pshh seriously? Is that the best you got? Come on, slowpoke. I dare ya! Over here!" He yelled, watching as the alien vehicle made its way towards him. _'Closer…closer…just a little closer…got ya.'_ He thought to himself as thealien vehicle rose its leg to strike the cocky speedster and he quickly zoomed away as the leg struck the "rock"; revealing it to be the same alien mine that had defeated the crimson speedster the last time. The explosion blew off a chunk of the alien vehicle's leg and it teetered back and forth. "Oh you really stepped in it this time, huh?" The Flash laughed to himself as he saw the alien vehicle teeter and fall to the ground; exploding into a fiery mess. "Bye-bye. Payback's a bitch, ain't it?" He said before zooming away.

Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, and the Martian landed near the large alien factory; taking careful measures to remain unseen from the aliens. They then saw a hole on the side of the factory and flew inside of there. Inside they flew, flying past numerous obstacles in the factory. "Where are they being held?" Green Lantern asked. "This way." J'onn replied, turning around a corner to the right of them. He then landed a couple feet away from the doorway; the others, along with Flash, joining him. Aliens' chattering was heard ahead of them and they quickly moved against the wall to avoid being seen. The Martian poked his head from around the corner to see two aliens with firearms coming their way. "Wait here." He said to his comrades as he morphed into one of the aliens.

With his new disguise, J'onn ran out to the other two aliens and told them that he knew where the intruder were. He pointed towards where the three were hiding and morphed back into his regular self. The aliens ran to where J'onn had pointed and saw that the intruders and rose their weapons to fire, but were stopped when J'onn pashed his arms through them; causing them to collapse. "Come." J'onn uttered. The Flash scratched his head, "Umm…is it just me or does he creep you guys out too?" He asked while they ran to follow the Martian.

They followed the Martian for a while until they arrived at a sealed door. He put his hand on top of the door, "I sense they are somewhere beyond this door." Wonder Woman pushed past and put her hands on top of the door and pushed with all her might to budge the door. After a couple moments, she gave up. "It's no use. We'll have to find another way." She said to the others. Green Lantern moved her and pointed his ring to the door. "I'd stand back if I were you." He said, his ring blasting a green laser from it, slowly slicing through the door. J'onn looked up sensing something. "We don't have much time" He muttered. Outside the factory, a humongous spaceship was heading towards them; promising nothing but pain and misery

Finally, the door was sliced open; revealing an unconscious Superman and Hawkgirl glued upside down. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, and the Flash ran towards the unconscious duo while J'onn stayed back. An eerie feeling passed through him. "Wait, something is not right." He said to his friends. The Flash looked at him, failing to see "Hawkgirl" open her eyes to reveal a red sclera and black pupils. "Superman" opened his eyes too to reveal the same. As if it was a signal, the doorway they had just come in began sealing shut. Green Lantern tried to run to it, but it was too late. "Damn it! It's a trap!" He yelled.

Numerous pores opened up in the room, exhaling yellow gas into the room. The heroes tried to hold their breath, but soon inhaled the gas into their bodies; causing them to slowly collapse to the floor. "Lantern…you're ring." Wonder Woman said weakly as she fell to the floor. "Can't…focus. Can't…" John coughed, trying to raise his hand in vain, but ultimately collapsed in fatigue. "Superman" and "Hawkgirl" then revealed themselves to be aliens in disguise and laughed in their alien dialect in victory.

 _ **Alien Core Room**_

J'onn weakly opened his eyes as he heard a voice beside him. "J'onn, wake up! Wake up!" Superman yelled to the Martian. The Martian tried to move his body, but his hands and legs were glued to the wall by some kind of alien substance. He turned to see Superman, along with Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Captain Marvel, Green Lantern, and Flash all glued to the wall as well. "Superman…"J'onn groaned weakly. "I'm sorry, J'onn, but you shouldn't have risked your lives for us." Superman said. "Would you have done any less for me?" J'onn replied back to the Kryptonian. The Flash groaned, "Ugh…my aching head. Anyone got any aspirin?"

An alien marched forward to look down at the heroes. "Earth's mightiest heroes. What a pleasure. Or at least, for us it is." The alien chuckled; morphing into the U.S. senator, Carter. Superman was shocked to see this. "Senator Carter?" He asked in bewilderment. "Unfortunately, the real Carter never returned from Mars. A pity…for him." The alien smirked with the dead man's own mouth. "And you used me to weaken the Earth's defenses." Superman said angrily, trying to break free from his bindings. "You were so eager to cooperate. Thanks to you, the humans are completely helpless now." "Carter" said haughtily. "Oh man, I can't believe Salamander was right. You're just gonna rub it in my face now, right?" Captain Marvel said, turning to look for the hooded hero, but didn't see him. "H-hey, where is he? Salamander! Salamander!" The captain of thunder yelled, moving his head to look for his friend. "Unfortunately, your dear friend won't be joining us. However, I'm sure you'll be able to see him very soon. Give him my regards once you see him." "Carter" smirked at the shocked expression Captain Marvel wore.

"Oh no…please no. Please…someone tell me he's…please." His voice broke while he looked towards the heroes faces, but none had the courage to face him. Captain Marvel slouched in defeat as he pictured his friend…lifeless. He should have been there…he should have. Superman gritted his teeth in anger, "It's not over yet." "Nope. Wrong again, Superman." The alien disguised as Carter said as a hole opened up from the ceiling which revealed a large mothership above the alien factory. It soon opened up a door to shoot down a smaller spaceship to the factory. The smaller spaceship lowered itself inside the factory. "All hail the imperium" The aliens bowed as a door at the bottom of the ship opened; releasing air from its confines. Smoke billowed from the opened slot and in the center if it all there was a giant, ovular alien in its midst with tentacles protruding from its body.

The alien leader moved its body to look upon all of Earth's heroes, but it's one eye glared at one in particular. It levitated towards the Martian; taking great pleasure in the fear that must be billowing inside of the lowly creature. "J'onn J'onzz, it's been a long time, hasn't it?" The alien leader said as lightning fell from the sky. J'onn's body was moved upwards by the alien glue and moved closer towards the alien leader. The substance evaporated from J'onn's body as aliens quickly surrounded the Martian with pointed staffs. Electricity surged from the tips as they were jabbed into the Martian's skin; causing him to scream in pain from the shocks. Everyone inside the room watched in either in shock or malicious pleasure as they watched J'onn scream from the torture. J'onn's body began to swirl between his true form and the new human-like form he assumed. Finally, the poles were extracted from his body and J'onn kneeled in his true Martian form and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. His breath flowed heavily from his mouth as the pain was fresh and blood began to leak from his wounds. All of this he remembered…the pain…the torture…oh how he wanted to flee.

"Much better. You have defied us for centuries and here you are kneeling like the lowly whelp you are. A much more fitting image." It told the Martian as it watched J'onn try to raise himself. "And I will never bow to you creatures or any of your kind. I'd rather die than force myself to bow to horrific creatures like you." He muttered with hatred as he glared straight through the alien leader. The imperial leader sighed, or it sounded like it did, as it said, "Fine. Then we will finish what should have been accomplished centuries ago." It's tendrils leapt towards the Martian as they seeped through his skin; tearing through with no regard for J'onn's wellbeing or comfort. "AGHH! URGH!" J'onn screamed in agony as the tendrils seeped into his body. "Yes…the elimination of the last Martian." It whispered in malicious glee as it tortured this pathetic creature that dared to stand in its way. The leader's tentacles pulled J'onn closer to its body; pulling him inside of it and proceeding to electrocute him with bolts of electricity.

Superman gritted his teeth as he watched his friend be tortured by this horrific creature that threatened to destroy all that he held dear. "Let go of him you filthy…" He yelled as he fought to free himself from the confines of his prison. All of Earth's mightiest heroes fought to free themselves, but it was all in vain. They were trapped. Unable to protect themselves and the world from this terror from space.

They'd failed…

"Give in, J'onn. Embrace this truth. You've finally lost. Just give in now." The alien leader constantly recited to the Martian as it continued to torture him. "Never!" J'onn grunted in pain as he fought through the pain. He had to stay strong…just for a bit longer. "Why do you resist? You've lost, Martian." It whispered to the lowly creature. "Have I?" J'onn replied back. A faint smile spread across his lips. The imperial leader drew aback from this sudden case of confidence from the recently injured Martian. "You're hiding something. What is it? A secret deep in the recesses of your mind. What is it? WHAT IS IT?!" It yelled, shocking the Martian once more. J'onn smiled faintly as he felt something inside the alien leader. Something that he too felt once before when he realized that his race was doomed and there was nothing he could do to save them.

"Is this fear I sense?" J'onn whispered to the alien leader.

The alien surged with rage at the mention of fear. Fear? Fear this creature? This pathetic creature? It almost laughed at the notion. "Tell me! YOU WILL TELL ME!" It yelled as its tendrils drilled deeper into the recesses of J'onn's mind. It could see something…two figures. Two figures…both clad in black. What…

"NOW!" The Martian yelled as an explosion erupted from the ion matrix crystal holder. Smoke emitted from the explosion which showed two shadowy figures behind the smoke. "Now yeah see? That's how you make an explosion!" One of the figures yelled. Captain Marvel perked up at the sound of that particular voice. "I said implosion! Next time, listen clearly!" The other figure yelled back. Wonder Woman looked towards the smoke. "I-it can't be!" She muttered.

The smoke parted revealing Natsu and Batman; one smiling at the group and the other glaring at the pink-haired buffoon. "SALAMANDER!" Captain Marvel yelled, tears welling up from the corners of his eyes. Natsu beamed at his friend and waved with both hands; causing him to lose his grip and fall to the platform beneath them. His body landed in a crouched position as he stared upwards at the trapped heroes. "Don't worry! I'm coming to getcha!" Natsu yelled as he sprinted towards them. "H-how is this possible?" Wonder Woman said. "I mentally shielded them so they couldn't be detected." J'onn replied as he tried to escape from the alien's body. Batman quickly grabbed a small bomb from his utility belt and lodged it inside the ion matrix crystal. "Guess I'll have to do it myself then." Batman muttered, pressing a button causing the ion matrix crystal to flood with a bluish color and flooded through the various valves connected to it. "What did you do?" The faux Carter asked in anger. "Reversed the ion charge." He merely stated; watching as the bluish color went inside all of the valves and disrupted the factory's power source.

Something primal welled inside of the imperial leader as it watched helplessly as it's plan was being foiled by these pathetic creatures. "Destroy the crystal. NOW!" It yelled to its subordinates. The aliens pointed their weapons at the Dark Knight and the crystal and fired. Batman quickly pointed his grappling hook away from the aliens and shot it to the ceiling and reeled himself upwards. The laser bullets landed on the sphere that protected the crystal, but nothing happened. "It's protected!" The alien disguised as Carter said.

The factory swelled with a light blue color and fired a blue blast upwards into the sky. The light sizzled inside the darkness; parting it slowly and exposing the clear blue sky across the city. Lightning crackled as the darkness subsided and daylight began to protrude inside the factory through the opened ceiling. The aliens began to sizzle from the daylight and screamed in pain as they ran to the imperial spaceship. Natsu laughed as he saw the enemy turn tail and run. He ignited his feet and sped towards the captured heroes. He leapt from the opposite platform to the one that held the heroes and chuckled at seeing Captain Marvel sniffling; his boogers sliding down his nose. "Y-you're alive! I thought…I t-thought you were…" The boyish man sniffled as he stared at the dragon slayer. Natsu walked up to him and tousled his hair, "I ain't going anywhere, big guy. Nothing could tear me away from you. Not aliens, not monsters, not gods, nothing will. I promise." He whispered as he wrapped his arms around the big lug.

"Umm…yeah, as much as I love seeing this afterschool moment, you mind freeing us from this? My nose is like killer itchy right now." Flash asked as he moved his nose. Natsu turned to the crimson speedster, "Ok…you're last then for ruining this afterschool moment." He winked and started to chuckle as Flash muttered how much he hated him. He moved his body towards the Captain Marvel, "I think you can free yourself, can't you?" He asked the captain of thunder. "I-I think I can." Captain Marvel whispered back. He cleared his throat as he began to utter one of the chants that granted him such power. "H for the strength of Hercules! Give me power!" Captain Marvel yelled as his body surged with power and his muscles became supercharged with energy. His muscles rippled as his bindings began to crack under his newfound power. The dragon slayer moved towards the Amazonian princess and ignited his hands; moving them closer to the bindings that held her. The wax-like substance slowly began to leak away from his body and seeped to the floor. "Thank you." The Amazonian replied. "No problem. Ladies first, right?" Natsu said as he enflamed his hands even hotter. Seeing how slow the substance was melting and looked to the rest of the other's bindings, "Yeah…I think this is gonna take a while hehe." Natsu said with a sheepish grin.

The heroes took a collective sigh at hearing that.

Bubbles began to protrude from the alien leader's body and it began to scream in agony. It pushed the Martian from his body, but the Martian wouldn't allow it. J'onn grabbed it's tendrils and pulled it closer and closer into the sunlight. "You live underground and shun the light. Why? Because you fear it! Does it burn your pale, putrid skin? I hope it does…because this is for my people. My family…for everyone!" He yelled with sorrow and anger. The imperial leader screamed in pain as the sunlight seeped inside of its body; burning it's insides. "Oh man, now that is one nasty sunburn." The Flash said to himself as he watched the alien burn from the sunlight. Batman quickly swung himself towards the trapped heroes and landed on the platform holding them. "Ultraviolet rays, coming from the depths of space, the invaders have no resistance to our sun's radiation." Batman said as he pulled out a miniature laser and fired it at Green Lantern's trapped body; burning away his bindings. Superman felt the light of the sun on his skin and smile at the familiar feeling. "I feel sorry for them." He said as his eyes glowed red. He turned his head to the bindings that held him and shot his heat vision towards the covered left hand, slicing through the alien substance and freeing his hand.

"So you both found that weakness after all." Wonder Woman said as she broke through the bindings that held her. The alien leader looked to its prisoners slowly escaping and burned with rage, "Destroy them!" Its group of followers heard its scream for vengeance and turned their weapons towards the trapped heroes. A laser shot straight for the back of Natsu's head, but was quickly blocked by the Amazonian princess. He didn't mean for it to happen, but his nose inhaled deeply at the moment. _'Wow…she smells so…heavenly.'_ Natsu inwardly chuckled at that pathetic excuse for a joke and looked at the intensity of the warrior's eyes. Fierce. Determined. Strong. He saw all of this…but quickly shoved aside this feeling. Now was definitely not the time.

Superman flew towards the alien firing squad and shoved his arms beneath the floor. His hands shot upwards; uprooting the floor and caused the aliens to fly up into the air. His head turned backwards to his trapped friends and fired his heat vision into Hawkgirl's bindings. Her bindings chipped away from the intense heat and she quickly broke through. Green Lantern soon followed afterwards while the Flash moaned at being the last one to be freed. Superman quickly answered his call and the Flash soon beamed at finally being able to be free again. "Ok, since everyone is free now, I suggest we move far away from here because there are some aliens who need to get their as-", his eyes floated to Captain Marvel, "butts kicked." He sighed at his blatant censoring of himself, but it was for a good cause. The Kryptonian then slammed his hands down causing the uprooted floor to crash downwards and leave the remaining aliens in an injured heap.

The imperial alien leader watched as its subordinates lay helpless and grunted in both pain in anger at seeing that. "ENOUGH!" It yelled as it sent shocks of electricity to J'onn; causing him to fly back onto the floor. The alien then used this as its chance to escape towards its ship. Faux Carter ran towards the imperial leader and jumped onto it. "Don't leave me! Take me with you!" He yelled as he tightened his grip on the leader's body. His leader than slapped him down in frustration and floated up towards its ship. Once the alien leader was aboard the ship, it started to float upwards into the Earth's atmosphere and towards the infinite realm of space. Natsu wasn't having it and grabbed Captain Marvel's arm. "There is no way in heck that that thing is getting away! Throw me, Cap!" He yelled as his friend grabbed him by the scuff of his black coat. "On it!" Captain Marvel yelled affirmatively and threw him upwards towards the departing spaceship.

Natsu sped through the air at top speed and opened his arms to grab ahold of the spaceship. "Ok, now I'm gonna-" He started to yell before he grabbed his mouth before anything could spill out. _'Oh damn it! I forgot…motion sickness! Ugh of all the things that had to stick with me, this had to be one of them?!'_ Natsu's face became a sickly green color and vomit made its way towards the means of its escape; his mouth. The salmon-haired mage held on for dear life as he tried to will himself to move, but to no avail. "Oh no! I forgot about his motion sickness! Don't worry, buddy, I'm coming!" Captain Marvel yelled to his friend before a certain Amazonian princess beat him to the punch.

Wonder Woman flew upwards to the alien spaceship and unraveled the lasso from her waist and threw it towards the ship. It caught itself onto one of the pointed spikes of the hull and she pulled with all her strength towards the Earth; exerting her muscles from all the stress she was putting on them. To everyone's surprise, the spaceship was slowly coming back to the factory. Hawkgirl saw that the spaceship was a sitting duck now and flapped her wings upwards towards it. She held her mace tightly inside the grasp of her hand and yelled a war cry and smashed her mace against the hull of ship; damaging it and causing an explosion to happen to the rear of it. Wonder Woman used this as her cue to let go of the lasso and watch the spaceship fly into space; far far away from their home and hopefully they would never return. Unfortunately, one such non-alien was still present on that ship and was reeling from that shot from Hawkgirl. Natsu tumbled down the outside of the spaceship and grabbed a hold of a lasso hanging from one of the spikes. _'What a strange place for a piece of rope.'_ He quickly untied the rope and fell downwards towards the ground; letting himself fall faster and faster until a red blur caught him in the air.

"Oh my gosh! Are you ok? Please tell me you're ok? You have to be ok because I'm not gonna be ok if you're not ok, ok?" The captain of thunder exclaimed to his partner in crime as he shook him back and forth. "Ok ok OK! I'm ok, but I'm not gonna be ok if you keep shaking me! I'm seriously about to hurl right now and I would really appreciate being on solid ground fight now." He muttered back to his friend, covering his mouth to stop himself from giving his friend's costume a new paint job. Green would not be a good mix with red. Captain Marvel slowly descended back into the alien factory and put his friend back onto the ground. His body lying right on top of the fine line between the shadow and the light. "Oh sweet ground! How I love you so. Man, that I swear that was worse than all the other train rides I've suffered in all my years." Natsu whispered as he kissed the ground; causing most of the other heroes to glance at him awkwardly.

"Well…I suppose all's well that ends well, right? I mean, the bad guy is gone so…yeah." The Flash said to the other heroes. "But there are still other aliens across the globe." Green Lantern corrected the speedster. "Then that means we have to hurry before they cause any more destruction. There's no time to lose." Superman declared, getting ready to fly upwards before a voice stopped him.

"You heroes aren't anywhere! Not only have you destroyed the imperium, but you have destroyed any hopes of our species reclaiming our former glory! You won't get away with what you've done." Faux Carter whispered vehemently. Scores of aliens crowded behind him. Some must have hid themselves before the sunlight killed them. Shrouded in darkness, the aliens looked towards the heroes covered in the sunlight. They raised their guns and pointed their sights right at their heads and left their fingers on the triggers. "Any last words?" The faux Carter asked; angrily glaring right through the humans that foiled his master's, or former master's, plan.

A finger rose in the air. "Actually, just one question." Natsu asked. All eyes looked towards the draconic man. "Listen, buddy, I know you're a little mad that your master abandoned you or whatever, but do you really think it's smart to use what left of your lives to fight a losing battle? Come on, you've gotta be smarter than that, right? Whoops, hehe, that was two questions. My bad." Natsu chuckled, eyeing the aliens for any sort of moves they might try to pull. "What choice do we have? If the sunlight doesn't kill us, then you might as well. Either way, we'd rather go out with some semblance of dignity than screaming like cowards as our bodies roast alive." The disguised alien replied. Some of the heroes curled their noses at that particular description. Natsu shrugged indifferently. "Listen, you came here to kill us. Or enslave us. Or hell, just take our bodies or whatever the hell you planned. Quite frankly, I don't care. You lost and now you've gotta pay the piper. These are your consequences. And all you can do is live with them." Natsu grinned demonically at the aliens. He stepped forward into the darkness and stepped closer and closer towards the aliens.

An eerie feeling swept across the alien's bodies. This human…wasn't normal. "S-stay back! I'm warning you!" Faux Carter screamed as he raised his weapon, trembling as he aimed his gun right at the human's body. "Please don't do that. I'm telling you now that it's just gonna irk me if you fire that thing. Just give up. Give in. There's no point in fighting any longer. You've lost. Accept you're consequences." The demon whispered, it's eyes becoming slits and flooding with blood-red irises in the middle. The alien disguised as Carter trembled. Fear. How could it feel fear at the hand of this…thing. His finger wrapped around the trigger ready to pull…

But he didn't.

Fake Carter sank to his knees and trembled at this power. How could…why…everything he did was for nothing. And now the only thing he could think of is…giving up. It was hopeless. He saw the power these humans had. There was no way they could win. Faux Carter stared back up at the monster; its eyes became drenched in all black with red pupils in the middle of them. "Now yeah see? Was that so hard? Isn't it easy when you accept your consequences?" It grinned at the alien kneeling at its feet. "N-no." The alien whispered in defeat. _'No. It never is.'_

Natsu pulled his arms behind his back and slowly walked back towards the light where his friend was. "And that, heroes, is how you negotiate with a crazed alien. Or, not really negotiate, but tell them like it is. After all, honesty is the best policy, right?" He winked at the bewildered heroes. The Dark Knight stared peculiarly at the man that stood before him. He had no knowledge of this man. Batman's eyes wandered towards the man with the lightning bolt emblazoned in his chest. Captain Marvel. He knew much about him, but not his true identity. This man, or hardly a man, he looked like a teenager. Yet, he knew next to nothing about him. The Dark Knight didn't like being in the dark, or at least, when it came to knowing just a potential threat was. He would have to rectify this as soon as he returned to the batcave.

Natsu turned around and smiled smugly at the others. "You see? I told you that there are simpler ways than fighting, didn't I?" Captain Marvel said triumphantly, puffing out his chest with pride. "Yeah well, I just didn't want to sully my hands with alien blood. There isn't a bathroom for miles." Natsu chuckled to himself. The crimson speedster laughed at the joke, "I'm with this guy. Any chance we can get without messing up our uniforms and I'm all for it. You can't imagine how hard this is to get cleaned, especially at a dry cleaners." The Flash smiled. The Green Lantern looked to the newly surrendered aliens, "I can take it from here. I'll make sure these guys find a nice new dark hole to spend the rest of their lives in. I'm sure there's a jail out in the universe who caters to their particular needs." John raised his hand and shot a beam at the aliens; enveloping them in a bubble.

Superman raised his head and used his x-ray vision to look for any civilians in the factory. Fortunately, he was able to find some. However, he also noticed that the reduced ion charge was slowly destroying the factory. "There are people trapped in some of those pods. Not only that, but the factory is slowly coming down on us. We need to grab all the civilians quickly before that happens!" He yelled before shooting off towards a room adjacent to the one they were currently in. The rest followed after him; Hawkgirl grabbed the Flash seeing as he was one of the few who couldn't fly while Captain Marvel grabbed a hold of Natsu and Wonder Woman held the Dark Knight. Superman rushed to see that there were about a handful of people in pods. He thrusted his hands inside one of them and pulled the walls apart to open it. Inside was a rotund, African-American man that unconsciously fell into the Kryptonian's arms. The others arrived soon after to follow the Kryptonian's example and free the people from the pods.

Afterwards, everyone quickly escaped the factory before it had time to blow. As soon as they flew out of there, a couple seconds later, explosions rippled throughout the factory. The building crumbled with each explosion until there was nothing left of it but rubble. The heroes then left the people at a reasonable distance from the rubble and flew away from them. "There are still more of those alien vehicles around the globe." Hawkgirl said, seeing a barely working television before they flew off and saw several of those alien things still at large. "Then that means our job isn't finished." J'onn replied, staring forward with a solemn look. "Are you gonna be ok?" Superman asked the Martian. "In time…perhaps. Right now, no." J'onn said, making it clear that he didn't want to talk about what happened. Superman nodded and quietly stared ahead.

Natsu sighed as he realized that he was gonna be so late and hoped that Mrs. Jones would have to stay late at her job. Otherwise…he shuddered at thinking about what she would do to him. "You don't think we could just duck out?" He looked upwards at Captain Marvel. "I mean, these guys are more than capable of taking care of a couple aliens." Natsu whispered to him, hoping that he would agree and call it a night. "Are you kidding? We can't stop now! People need our help right now. Besides, Superman is counting on us for assistance. I know it's late, but we have to stay and help." Captain Marvel replied and stared down at the moaning dragon slayer. Natsu stared back at the big guy and could tell that he was in no way going to budge on the issue. He could see it in his eyes. Sigh…damn him and his hero complex.

Natsu stared ahead at the other people flying beside him. Heroes people called them. Or at least, some did. Other people had their own definitions of them. Natsu didn't really care altogether. They were doing what they thought was best and he could respect that. His eyes glanced to Captain Marvel. Natsu knew that he wanted to follow in their stead. Especially Superman's. Natsu was indifferent to the whole hero thing and just did what he thought was the right thing to do. Some would say that it wasn't, but he didn't care. Not anymore. People could say what they wanted. All that really mattered now is that he protect what mattered most to him. His eyes moved upward. He smiled. Anything else was irrelevant.

That isn't something a hero would say, is it?

He shook his head to brush away these thoughts. He wasn't a hero. Not in the slightest. That would never change. No matter how much he wished it could. Even if he tried to be one…it would all just end. He chuckled at that. His eyes stared forward watching the heroes stare determinately at the horizon and the enemies that awaited them. All he wanted to do right now is just go back to the ruin that was his room and just lie there waiting. That's all he could do…wait. That was what he was forced to do now. Watch and wait. He sighed to himself, but knew that nothing could be done. He made his choice long ago and with that choice came consequences. Consequences that to this day still haunted him and would continue to haunt him to the rest of his days. Till the day it all…ended. Until then, he would just sit back and enjoy the ride while it lasted. After all, there was no point in just drowning in despair.

"Hey, you ok?" Captain Marvel asked his friend. He always knew that if there was a long uncomfortable silence with Natsu that something was wrong. "Hmm? Nah just thinking to myself. I mean, I guess I could start talking out loud again, but I know just how it much it annoys you. As a matter of fact, I should be doing that! Thanks, Cap! So, what should I talk about first? Oooooo how about the cute heroines we're helping today? Or, how about the fact that I saved your butt again for…what is this the 13th time? Nah the 14th . 15th?" His mutterings quickly subsided by the big hand covering his moving mouth. "Ok, go back to silence. Silence is actually better than you're constantly moving mouth. Quiet now." Captain Marvel said as he shushed the pouting dragon slayer. "So mean." Natsu pouted in fake anger. Captain Marvel laughed at seeing his friend's pouting face and attracted the looks of the other heroes from his loud, rambunctious laughter.

"Is something funny?" Wonder Woman asked, looking back to find out just why these two were so loud. Captain Marvel blushed and rubbed the back of his head with one of his hands. All the stares from the others were stealing his voice. All of his heroes, and some new ones, were in his presence and all he could do was just…blush and ramble. "Umm…well… uh you see…my friend…uhh…help." He whispered to friend, while said friend was chuckling in the background. "Oh no. You're doing great right now. Keep it up." Natsu teased, smirking at seeing his friend have trouble saying just a simple explanation. Captain Marvel continued trying to speak, but nothing coherent really came out.

Watching this all before his eyes…he pushed back all the negative thoughts to the back of his mind. Yeah, this was fine for now. Whether this would come to an end sooner or later, all he wanted to do now was cherish it. Natsu could tell that answering that Martian's call opened up Pandora's box. More things would be expected of him. Things that he just wanted to run away from. He didn't want any responsibility. All he wanted to do here was just have fun…and forget. But he knew now that that was impossible. He knew this wouldn't be the last time these heroes would call upon his aid and he just prayed that a certain someone wouldn't agree without at least some prior thought. Sighing, he knew how fruitless that prayer was. Captain Marvel would obviously agree to such a request by his idols. There was no doubt about that. Natsu would have to think of a way to steer him away from such an idea. These people would have enemies, if they didn't already, and he was sure they did. There was no way that he wanted Captain Marvel mixed up in all that.

No way. He wouldn't lose him too. Not him…not anyone.

' _Never again'_

 **AAAAAAAAAAND THAT'S A WRAP! Man, I can't believe I finally finished this chapter. I swear it was one of the longest things I've ever written in my life! Phew…anyways, Natsu in the Justice League animated universe?! I know, crazy! But, this has been on my mind for a while now and I'm glad I finally started on it. This is gonna take place in Justice League and Unlimited. Although, I may throw some original stuff along in this fic too. After all, I already introduced Captain Marvel who didn't show up until Unlimited and just for one episode. I don't know. I just think that these two will have an interesting brother dynamic. Kinda like Natsu and Romeo had.**

 **People will probably ask me this sooner or later, but as for the pairings in it…I kinda wanna do a harem. I mean, I am a harem writer. Don't worry, Natsu isn't gonna seduce the whole female population of the DC universe, but he will get a couple of gals. If you wanna see a particular gal in the harem, then leave your recommendations in a review! I already know some women who I want to add though…cough…Wonder Woman…cough.**

 **Anyways, please favorite, follow, and leave a review if you liked it!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again! I'm here again with another chapter of END of Justice! I'm really surprised by how many favorites and follows I have already gotten. I want to thank those people who favorited, followed, and even took the time to write a review! Thanks! Also, someone asked me if Natsu would have a dragon form and a curse ability. Dragon form, most likely not. However, curse ability…perhaps ;).**

 **Another shout out to my awesome beta, Sean Moses, for helping me with my stories! I couldn't do this without you!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters and I do not own DC or its characters. They all belong to their respective owners.**

 _ **Fawcett City**_

 _This is Snapper Carr reporting here. Thanks to the efforts of various superheroes, the invading aliens have been stopped. Despite this victory, some still say that we must remain vigilant. Work has been going on in space to create a fully functional space tower for our saviors to watch over us in our time of need. Some remain skeptical of how these heroes will use their newfound tower, but this reporter stays optimistic that they will protect us. We know bring you to-"_

The television is shut off by an irritated Mrs. Jones. "I can't believe it aliens…aliens! To think that they actually existed. And they actually wanted to conquer Earth like in all those movies." She said in bewilderment. The woman shook her head and glared at the two boys sitting on the couch. "But, that still doesn't excuse that you two came home at 6 in the morning…TODAY!" She yelled. Billy shifted awkwardly in his seat and looked to Natsu through his peripheral vision. Natsu sighed. Stupid aliens…why the hell did there have there have to be so many of them? Not only that, but every time he tried to duck out with Captain Marvel, those damn heroes kept pulling them along to the next place to save. Ugh it was incredibly annoying, as well as pretty damn exhausting. Finally, the two were released from duty and Captain Marvel gave him a ride back to the city and dropped him off at a park. Natsu would have normally gotten home and slept, but he had to make sure Billy got home safely. He quickly rushed back to his apartment to change and sprinted off towards Billy's house. As soon as he got there, he looked through the window to see Billy asleep on the couch…with the door wide open. Thankfully, he arrived in time before some less honorable showed up and he walked inside and closed the door. Then…well we all know what happened next.

Mrs. Jones, irritated, tapped her foot impatiently; waiting for an answer from one of the boys. Natsu sighed again and stood up to take the hit. "It's not Billy's fault, Mrs. Jones. It's mine. You see, I thought it would be fun if instead of Billy going to school and face those bullies of his, that instead we play hooky and have some fun at the local arcades. Afterwards, we went movie hopping throughout the theater, and we just barely escaped without anyone being the wiser. Then, it was probably around 11 or so and then we got a message from a Martian from…well Mars." Natsu grinned at seeing the eyebrow being raised by Mrs. Jones. "No no, it's true. HE summoned us to help him in his time of need and save the world from impending doom and yada yada yada. So we vanquished the aliens from our planet and now we're heroes. Heroes who had to stay late saving the world, possibly even the universe, and arrived at your place around 6 A.M. because we just couldn't let our fellow man down…as well as that Martian. Billy, what was his name again?" Natsu asked, turning towards the sweating boy. Billy trembled under his mother's gaze and couldn't even stutter out a word from his mouth. He looked to Natsu to see him staring at him and moving his eyes to his mother. Billy knew what he wanted him to do; he wanted him to lie to his mom…or at least technically. I mean, he wasn't really lying, but his mom would never believe he was really Captain Marvel. No one would.

"W-well, Mom, umm…w-what Natsu is saying is…is….uhhh…" Billy stuttered out, sweating profusely. Natsu facepalmed at seeing the boy unable to even get out a sentence. He knew he shouldn't have involved the kid, but his mother had to believe both of them…sort of.

"So, you honestly expect me to believe that you two got a message from a Martian and helped him…save the world?" Mrs. Jones asked, her eyebrow raised.

"Well not really, but the other parts are true. I just had to say that last part because I didn't want to let you know that I took Billy over to my place." Natsu internally grinned as he saw the look of absolute bewilderment underlined with hints of anger in her face. She knew where he lived and that his area was…not the best place for a ten-year-old kid. Obviously she would have never believed anything he could have told her, but taking Billy to a shithole like his apartment? Oh she didn't need to believe him. Her parental instincts would go haywire and her brain wouldn't care what was the lie or the truth. All she would care about would be that I took Billy to the bad part of Fawcett city…well not really, but she didn't need to know that.

"You did WHAT?!" Mrs. Jones exclaimed, her arms uncrossed and her face red. She began to move closer to Natsu and stopped right in front of him. "Do you mean to tell me…that you took a 10-year-old boy to the bad side of Fawcett? You know what kind of stuff goes down there! How could you be so irresponsible?!" Mrs. Jones continued yelling at Natsu with every criticism she could think of. Oh boy…she was really pissed off. And she had every right to be, but to think if she actually found out what happened with Billy…she'd never forgive him. Hell, if anything happened to Billy…he shook his head. Nothing was going to happen to him. Nothing.

"I know. I know. What I did was wrong, but Billy was scared. He didn't want to face his bullies and he couldn't go back home, lest he face you. What I did was irresponsible. I know that. But you know me. You know that I would never, ever let anything bad happen to Billy. You think I'm gonna let some punk little kids pick on someone like him. No! What I did was wrong and I won't let it happen again, but I what I did was because I care for your son, Mrs. Jones. You have to trust me." Natsu pleaded, internally hating himself with every lie he spout out. The only true thing that came out was that he would never let anything happen to Billy. Especially not to some punk little kids or some fucking aliens.

Mrs. Jones stared at the salmon-haired teen. Was she angry? Yes. She had every right to be. He knew just how bad the part of town where he lived is. But…in the back of her mind she knew that his words rang true. He would never let anything happen to Billy. She knew that the moment he met him. Billy's mom gripped her fists tightly, but sighed in the end. "I do trust you, Natsu. But I also hold Billy's wellbeing at the highest point on my list. Promise me you won't do anything like that again. Promise me." She asked, a pleading tone underneath her words.

" _Promise me, Natsu. Promise me."_

Natsu shook his head. Damn it…why did her voice have to pop into his head. "O-of course. I'll never do it again. You have my word." Natsu said, his feet slightly trembling. Natsu hated himself right now. He knew what he was promising and he knew that he couldn't follow it. Not with her son's damn hero complex in the way. Billy would keep getting himself into fights and Natsu would try with all his might to keep him from getting hurt. But what if he couldn't? What if he wasn't strong enough? What if he wasn't fast enough? What if…

"Thank you, Natsu." Mrs. Jones smiled at the teen. Her gaze turned to Billy, "Now I don't want another call from the school saying you played hooky again, ok? And don't wrap Natsu in another one of your hooky schemes, understand?" Billy nodded. "Good. Now head up to bed. I can tell you must be extremely tired from 'saving the world.' Honestly, did you expect me to fall for something as dumb as that?" She asked, chuckling at the obvious lie.

Natsu tiredly smiled. "Hehe yeah…that was a pretty stupid lie." Natsu muttered. He got up off of the couch and stretched his tired muscles. "Well, I'm gonna head home. Helping a criminal play hooky really take it outta of you." Natsu chuckled at seeing the young boy's pout at being called a criminal.

"I'm not a criminal. I'm a hero!" Billy pouted, but then widened his eyes at what he said.

"Yeah, sure you are kid." Natsu replied back, sticking his tongue out at the young kid.

"Now now, enough teasing you two. Natsu let me make you a quick breakfast before you go." Mrs. Jones said, turning away to walk towards the kitchen.

"Oh yeah! Free food for the win!' Natsu jumped up in excitement. If there was one thing he loved most in the world, it would be free food. I mean, really, who didn't love free food? Before Natsu could walk off to follow Billy's mom, he felt a tug on his hoodie. The dragon slayer turned around to see Billy pulling on his sweater.

"H-hey, you didn't have to lie for me. I could have told my mom something by myself." Billy said, his feet shuffling nervously. Natsu rolled his eyes at that and crossed his arms to stare at Billy. "I-I could have! I just…I don't like lying to my Mom or my dad or anyone." Billy whispered.

Natsu smiled at the boy. Billy was a good kid. Sure as hell too good for this world that's for sure. The kid had a kind heart, but he was too naïve and that didn't bode to well if he continued wanting to be a hero. "Listen, Billy, I know that…you wanna help people. And that's good, but…you have to help yourself before you can help others. I know that sounds selfish, but you can't expect others to be as kind as you. What you're doing now…it's dangerous. One of the most…no, the most dangerous jobs in the world. You have to keep your identity a secret from others. Otherwise, people will come after the people you love. Your mom, your dad…a-and anyone else." Natsu stuttered that last part out.

"But I do want to help people! I have powers so it's my duty to help people. I was given these powers for a reason and I have to use them for the good of others. Otherwise, I'm no better than anyone else who lies around and watches the world destroy itself around them." Billy whispered back.

Natsu flinched slightly at what Billy said, but gripped the boy's shoulders tightly. "Billy, you have to understand. You're just a kid. Villains won't care that you're just a kid. They'll…they'll hurt you like anyone else that gets in their way. You have to realize that!" Natsu pleaded, gripping the boy's shoulders. He had to realize what he was getting himself into. Being a hero wasn't like in those comics that Billy likes to read. It's a far nastier business than what was shown in fiction. Heroes were expected to do what was best for the world, but not what was best for themselves. They had to be willing to sacrifice anything if it meant it was for the greater good. And…and that didn't slide well with the dragon slayer.

"I know that! I understand that and I don't care. I'm gonna keep using my powers to help people. No matter what." Billy stated, moving Natsu's hands away from his shoulders and waling to the kitchen to follow his mom.

Natsu felt sick. He gripped his stomach and couldn't move. The dragon slayer didn't want to believe what he was hearing. He didn't want to lose Billy to some damn psychopath who believed he was entitled to destroy the world. Why couldn't Billy understand that?

"Natsu, the breakfast is ready!" Mrs. Jones called.

"I-I'm not actually hungry right now! I kinda have to go right now! My work needs me right away and they hate it when I'm late!" Natsu laughed awkwardly, moving his body to the door.

"You don't want to take some of the food to go?" Mrs. Jones asked, moving the spatula in her hand towards the kitchen.

"N-no, I'm ok. I have to go right now. See ya!" Natsu quickly shut the door behind him and walked off towards his house. He was walking so fast he didn't see the sad expression on Billy's face as he walked past the window from the kitchen.

 _ **South Side of Fawcett**_

Natsu still felt sick. Why did he have to care? Why couldn't he just hole himself up in his room and let the world burn? This wasn't his world and it sure as hell wasn't his home. He wished he didn't care…why did he have to care? A buzz rang from the phone in his right hoodie pocket. Natsu rolled his eyes at hearing the buzzer. Great, now work really was calling him. He picked up the phone to read "unknown caller" and picked it up anyway. "Hello."

" _Umm…yeah is this that hero for hire guy?"_ A gruff voice was heard on the other end of the line.'

Natsu sighed. "Ok, first off, I'm not in the hero for hire business because one has to be a hero to be in the hero for hire business." He pinched the bridge of his nose. He seriously did not want to do anything right now.

" _Well whatever the hell you are I need help. There is this damn chick in my bar causing a ruckus and I need her out ASAP!"_ The voice yelled back. It was obviously a male voice.

Natsu smirked at hearing that. "So a big tough guy like you can't handle one little lady? Haha oh that's so funny…in a sad way of course."

The voice grunted. _"Well, if you knew who she worked for, you wouldn't be so quick to judge. I can pay ya!"_

"Well fuck, you better! My services aren't free, after all. Ugh fine. Just tell me where you are and I'll head over there right now." Natsu dejectedly replied. He seriously was not in the mood for this. All he wanted to do was lay in his bed and sleep.

" _Yeah yeah. My bar is in the lower docks part of Gotham City. My place is called the Stacked Deck. I gotta warn you straight out, my clientele…is a bit seedier than most bars are. Haha although, this is Gotham City so what can ya really expect?"_ The voice bellowed with laughter.

Gotham City? The home of the notorious Batman? Batman, who he just saw last night battling aliens and could tell that he wouldn't be too happy to find out he was in his city. The caped crusader did not look like the sharing type. "Alright fine. I'll be there as quick as I can." Natsu sighed and hung up. Well…fuck. Natsu quickly jogged to his apartment complex and ran up the creaky stairs to his apartment. He unlocked the door and locked it when he closed it behind him. His eyes glanced over at his bed and thought about just ignoring the call and just lying in bed and letting sleep take him. Sadly, he needed the money and rent was due next week. Luckily, this shithole wasn't expensive, but it wasn't like Natsu had cash coming out of his ass. Natsu grabbed his gear from underneath the plank and quickly got dressed.

Ugh…today was gonna be a long day.

 _ **Gotham City**_

Natsu looked down below at the city. His ignited feet were keeping him in the sky and thanked himself for finally teaching himself to fly…sort of. His type of flight wasn't as nearly as fast as Captain Marvel's, but it got it him where he needed to go. At least he didn't have to ride anymore of those damn trains…fuck he hated trains. His feet descended on a building in the lower part of the city. He looked around and stared at the tall skyscrapers and down below on the streets.

Fuck, this place was depressing.

Prostitution, drug dealing, abusive cops, seriously what the hell was wrong with this place. I mean, this city makes the south side of Fawcett city look like Metropolis. Natsu shook his head and looked around for the Stacked Deck. What did he honestly expect? I mean, just look at Batman. The guy had a humongous stick up his ass and he could tell why. The place he protected was an absolute shithole of a city and he could see why the caped crusader never cracked a smile. Natsu's eyes moved around until he finally spotted the Stacked Deck between a couple of docks and jumped from the building. He landed in the front of the place and saw a few motorcycles parked out in front of it. The dragon slayer shrugged and continued walking towards it until he reached the door. He moved his arm to open it, but was stopped by a crashing window. Natsu turned to look to see a man covered in shards of glass and looked to see the broken window he was thrown out of.

Wow…definitely a shithole.

Natsu pushed open the door and saw a couple of tables lying around the bar. A handful of drunk bikers were hanging out by the bar, laughing their asses of at the guy that got chucked out the window. They turned their eyes towards him and stared at him like he was some sort of freak. In a way, he was, but he didn't like to be reminded of it. He turned towards the bartender and motioned him to the left bottom corner of the bar. The bartender nodded and walked over to where Natsu motioned to him.

"I'm really glad you're here! This damn chick is ruining my business!" He whispered vehemently at Natsu. "I didn't really expect a full costume from you though. The ad didn't mention that."

"Yeah, well the ad doesn't mention a lot of things. Mainly my hours, which in hindsight I really should've added. But, if you don't want me, I'll gladl-" Natsu stopped himself when the bartender motioned to stop him.

"No no! Please don't go! I don't care what the hell you where! Hell, you could've been wearing your birthday suit for all I care, but just get that clown bitch outta my bar!" He whispered.

Clown? Hs eyes wandered over the bar and spotted an oddly dressed woman in the other corner of the bar. A woman clad in a red and black harlequin-like outfit was sitting down on a hair and leaning headfirst on a table. Natsu pointed at her and the bartender nodded. The dragon slayer shrugged and started walking over to her. He stared down at the woman who was mumbling incoherently and tapped her on the head. "Yeah lady, the middle ages called, they um…kinda want their outfit back." Natsu chuckled. The woman started to laugh a bit and turn her head over to look at him. Natsu took a step back and saw that the woman had bleached skin and black lipstick covering her lips with a mask covering the area around her eyes. Blue…they were kinda pretty.

"Hey, watsa the big idea, huh? I like this outfit! I don't have to take that from some…what are you supposed to be?" The woman uttered, alcohol breath coming out of her mouth. Natsu curled his nose at the smell.

"Doesn't matter. You've gotta go. Your ride is here." He said, motioning towards the door. The woman's eyes widened in happiness at hearing him say that.

"Oh! Is my puddin' here!" She leapt out from her seat and stumbled over to the exit, but was blocked by several of the bikers from the bar.

"Now where do you think you're heading off to, little lady? We haven't even properly introduced ourselves yet. The name's Kevin and these are my buds; Isaac, Mike, and Lucas." He pointed over to two spiky-haired bikers with different colored hair; one with blue hair and the other with red. The other was completely bald, but had a tattoo of a snake coiled around his head. "We were wondering if we could…show you around a bit. It won't take too long. An hour tops." Kevin smirked, reaching out for the women. The harlequin stepped back and shot her knee into the man's crotch; causing the man to scream and keel over in pain.

"AGH! You bitch! What the hell are you idiots waiting for? Get her!" Mike yelled, signaling his men to swarm her.

The bald biker rushed to the woman, but was tripped by the dragon slayer; causing the man to tumble into a couple of chairs. The other two with spiked hair, one red and the other blue, glared at the dragon slayer and tried to rush him. "Oh great." He mumbled as he dodged their swings and rammed his hand into one of the guy's elbows; effectively breaking it. The red-haired man kneeled in pain and held his elbow until the woman grabbed a chair and whacked him over the head with it. The spiked blue-haired man yelled as he threw several jabs at the dragon slayer, but all were blocked by the yawning dragon slayer. "C'mon this all ya got?" He smirked as he grabbed the man's arm and pulled him into a couple of quick jabs to the man's face. The biker moaned through broken teeth as he fell to the floor unconscious.

Kevin watched angrily as the two effectively took out his men and grabbed the women in a bear hug and tried to squeeze the life out of her. "Alright, you bitch! All I wanted to do was have a little fun with you, but now instead, I'm just gonna kill you!" The biker squeezed the woman tightly to his chest, causing her to scream in pain. Natsu looked to see what was happening until he saw a broken, wooden leg from the chair she smashed. He grabbed it from the floor and whaled it onto his crotch. Kevin screamed in pain again; letting go of the women as she breathed for oxygen. Natsu held the wooden leg in his hand and whacked it on the biker's head. "Sorry!" He whacked him again. "But!" Again. "I!" Again. "Don't!" Again. "Like!" Again. "Rapists!" He struck the biker one final time on the head with the wooden leg; breaking it over his head and having him fall on the floor unconscious. Blood poured out of the man's nose and streamed down his face. Natsu stared at all the blood that was covering the man's face and one of his sclera turned black.

The demon liked what it saw.

Natsu covered his right eye with his palm and shook his head of all the negative thoughts and waited until his eye went back to normal. He then let out the breath he had been holding in since he started the fight. "Phew, that'll wake you up in the morning!" He said, looking to see the bartender get up from behind the bar. Natsu looked down to see the women still fighting for air and patted her on the back. "That's it breathe. Just breathe. Just-" He stopped when he heard the women hurl on the floor and jump back with his hand covering his nose. "Oh gross!" He yelled.

The women heaved her guts out onto the floor and gagged. "Oh…I don't feel so good." She muttered to herself.

"Oh you've gotta be fucking kidding me! Look at what you did to my bar! Oh…this is coming outta your paycheck!" The bartender yelled at the dragon slayer. Natsu shrugged indifferently. It wouldn't be the first time his pay had been deducted because of his destructiveness and it wouldn't be the last. The man should count his lucky stars that he didn't use his magic…his fire magic inside the bar.

Natsu picked up the women; having her lean on his shoulder as he walked her out. He left her by the door as he walked back for his money. The bartender walked to the cash register and took out a couple hundred bills and handed it to the hooded dragon slayer. Natsu nodded and went back to the harlequin. The woman wrapped her arms around his shoulders and breathed heavily into his nose. Natsu gagged at smelling the mix of alcohol and vomit. Ok…this was the downside of having heightened senses. The women climbed onto his back and laid her head down on his back. She mumbled to herself about someone she called Pudding and just rolled his eyes. His legs carried him a couple of feet before he realized he had no idea where he was going. "Umm…hey, hey!" He shook her awake from her stupor. "Where do you live? This is my first time here and I sure as hell don't know where I'm going." He asked the drunken harlequin.

"Umm…uh…I live with my Puddin'. He's so great. I wish he was here right now." She whispered to himself. Natsu groaned at hearing that and shook her awake again.

"Ok, well where does your…Puddin' live then?" Natsu asked, his patience wearing thin.

"Oh…um…me and Puddin' kinda have to live in a warehouse because a mean, old bat made us! Stupid Bats! If it wasn't for him, my Puddin' would be happy and he wouldn't be so angry right now!" She muttered to herself. Her hand pointed to the row of warehouses to their right. "We live in…one of those. They all kinda look alike so I don't know which one it is."

Natsu's eye twitched. If someone told him he would have to spend his morning helping a drunken harlequin to her home, he would've laughed and would've asked what the next part of the joke was. Because this is what it had to be…A JOKE! Natsu grunted and started moving closer to the row of stupid warehouses where the stupid drunken harlequin lived with her stupid Puddin'! Natsu looked down at the gutter and wondered if he could just leave her here. He shook his head and remembered those bikers back at the bar and knew what they would do to her if they caught her. The drunken harlequin snored softly as Natsu made his way closer to the warehouses. She could sure hold her own during a fight that was for sure. Natsu smiled as he remembered the way he kicked that biker in the crotch…what was his name again? Mick? Ah who gives a fuck. It was just hilarious how he went down after that. He chuckled at remembering his stupid face.

After what felt like a century, he made it to the first warehouse. He knocked on the front door three times. No answer. He walked to the one and knocked again there times. Again, no answer. Natsu grunted in irritation and walked over to the third warehouse. The dragon slayer knocked on the door three times. Someone better answer or so help him…he heard rustling inside. He put his ear to the door and heard muffled voices. "Hey listen! I kinda got your…harlequin with me. She got into a fight with some bikers, but she's cool now. I can just lea-" The door opened to reveal a man dressed in a clown mask.

"The boss wants to see you." He uttered quietly and moved aside for him to enter.

Natsu scratched his head. "Umm…listen I'm really tired. So can you ju-"

"The boss wants to see you." The man uttered again.

Natsu grit his teeth at being interrupted, but causing a fight wasn't gonna do him any good. But it would feel so good to break that fucking mask off of that guy's face. Natsu grunted and walked inside the dower warehouse. He looked inside to see more guys in clown masks. They were all busy moving boxes around with what looked like clown decorations inside of them. Whomever this warehouse belonged to, they had quite the affiliation with clowns. His eyes rose to see a platform above them with a large shadow of a man motioning him to him. Annoyed, Natsu blew out a small flame from his mouth and began his trek up the stairs to the shadow. With each step, Natsu felt more and more uneasy as he moved closer to the man. Finally, he reached the top and saw the man behind the shadow. The man had bleached skin like the harlequin woman, dyed green hair, his lips stained red, and his suit was purple with green; giving him the appearance of a clown.

Natsu hated clowns.

The clown turned around and had a huge grin plastered on his face. "Well, there's the man who saved my Harley! I must say I was worried sick about her. The poor girl always goes to that seedy bar to drink away her woes, but usually never gets into trouble…unless she starts it!" The clown laughed to himself, holding his sides to try to contain his laughter. Natsu stared at him. If he really was worried, then why didn't he just send a few of his men to keep an eye on her? This guy seriously rubbed him the wrong way. "You know that look you're giving me reminds me of another one of my friends. Well he would say we weren't friends, but that's just the denial talking. Without me, that man would be nothing. No one can make him laugh like I can…or at least try to." He muttered to himself, a grin still plastered on his face. "But I digress! A hero like you should be rewarded for your good deed! Well what would you like, money, power…Harley? She is quite the devoted follower and I just know you two would get along swimmingly!" The man walked over to the desk in the middle of the platform.'

"I don't really need a reward…or a devoted follower." Natsu said, placing Harley on her side on a red couch. She blended into it a bit which made him chuckle. _I kind of already have a devoted follower anyways._

The clown took note of the chuckle and grabbed him by his shoulder. "Oh you're a laughing man, I see! My kind of guy! Would you like to hear a joke?" The clown asked, his eyebrow raised. "See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum...and one night, one night they decide they don't like living in an asylum any more. They decide they're going to escape! So, like, they get up onto the roof and there, just across this narrow gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in the moonlight...stretching away to freedom. Now, the first guy, he jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daredn't make the leap. Y'see...y'see, he's afraid of falling. So then, the first guy has an idea...He says 'Hey! I have my flashlight with me! I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me!' B-but the second guy just shakes his head. He suh-says... he says 'What do you think I am? Crazy? You'd turn it off when I was half way across!'" The clown burst into laughter. His laughs echoed throughout the warehouse. His henchmen quickly joined him in laughing, lest their boss have their heads for failing to laugh from one of his famous jokes.

Natsu stayed silent. This guy clearly had one sick sense of humor and he didn't wanna stick around to hear anymore. Natsu turned around to go down the stairs, but was pulled back by the clown. He was surprisingly stronger than he looked. "Oh what, you didn't like that one? I have plenty more where that came from. Well, this guy g-" The clown stopped as he saw the man move his face, or mask, closer to his own.

"Tell me, stranger…what's your name?" The hooded figure asked.

"Haha I'm surprised you haven't heard. Joker's the name, jokes are my game! Pleased to meet you!" He stuck out his hand for a handshake. The hooded figure kept staring at him, not even glancing at his hand.'

"Joker…hmph. Makes sense. Well, let me just say this once and don't make me repeat myself." He put his hand on the clown's shoulder. "I hate repeating myself." He muttered, glaring straight through the clown. "I can tell just by looking at you the kind of guy you are. How you carry yourself, the way you treat others, even your type of jokes tell me exactly who you are." The figure pulled back with a smile. "You're the kind of guy I can dig…"

The clown smiled at that. Joker was about to open his mouth to respond, but…

"…a grave for." He whispered, fire burning in his eyes. The figure grabbed the Joker by the hem of his suit and body slammed him to the floor. The clown grunted as he floor collide with his back. The figure could hear footsteps running up the stairs and jumped through a window adjacent to him. He landed on the floor and sprinted away from the warehouse; avoiding gunfire along the way.

The Joker laughed at that. _"You're the kind of guy I can dig…a grave for."_ His laughter bellowed out of him; causing some of his henchmen to turn to look at him along with waking up Harley from her drunken stupor. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He continued shaking with laughter until he finally needed to breathe.

"Hahahaha…oh I like him." The Joker smiled, his smile stretching unnaturally across his face.

 _ **Fawcett City**_

Natsu landed on top of his apartment building and collapsed on the roof. "Uhhh….uhhh….fuck I'm so tired." Natsu pulled himself up from the ground and shambled his way towards the door until he heard a familiar voice in his head.

" _Hello again. If you can hear this, please report to this location."_ A station in space appeared in his mind, hovering above the Earth.

Natsu grunted in anger. He knew Billy must've heard that voice and would come flying over to here to get him. He wanted to sleep…why won't anyone let him sleep! He hoped super hearing wasn't a part of Billy's powers. "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"

 _ **Watchtower**_

Hovering above the Earth, a lone space tower floated; keeping a close eye on any danger that could befall the Earth. Inside the Watchtower, numerous amounts of technology were evident throughout the space tower. Superman looked in wonder at it all and looked out the giant glass window towards the Earth. "Incredible. Do you stockholders know about this place, Bruce?" He asked, turning to look at the Dark Knight.

"A line item hidden in the Aerospace R&D budget. This watchtower will act as an early warning system for detecting any other threats of invasion from space." Batman replied.

A door opened across from them. The Flash and Wonder Woman walked together carrying iced mochas in their hands. "Yeah it also comes with a fully stocked kitchen too. Iced mocha?" The Flash asked, moving his drink towards the Kryptonian.

"No thanks." Superman replied, holding up his hand to decline the offer.

Wonder Woman moved the straw up to her mouth and sucked some of the fluid through it. "Mmmm they don't have these on Themyscira." She said, smiling at the delicious taste of the drink mankind had created.

The Flash zoomed towards her. "Stick around, Princess. I'll show you the ropes." He smiled.

Wonder Woman smiled back. "Perhaps I will." Curiosity welled up inside of her at what else man's world had also created.

"Impressive installation." John said. The heroes looked up to see Green Lantern and Hawkgirl float down together. "Most impressive. But what's it got to do with us?" He asked.

"Yes, please answer him." The heroes looked to see the door slide open again to an upbeat Captain Marvel and a slouching hooded Salamander.

"Ah don't mind him. He's just cranky because he hasn't slept." Captain Marvel said, patting the growling dragon slayer on the back.

Superman looked towards the Earth. For the first time, he realized just how big it was. He looked down at his hands and looked at his reflection in the mirror. The Kryptonian was just one man; a powerful man sure, but just one singular man. He couldn't be at several places at once. "I once thought I could protect the world by myself, but I was wrong. Working together, we saved the planet." He said, motioning his hand towards the Earth. "And I believe that if we stayed together as a team we could be a force that could truly work for the ideals of peace and justice."

"What, like a bunch of super friends?" The Flash chuckled to himself.

Superman smiled back at him. "More like a justice league."

The Flash scoffed. "Do you have any idea how corny that sounds?"

"Yeah, I'm with Speedy over there. Can't you guys come up with a more original or cooler name? Like, The Avengers or the Defenders of Justice or something like that?" Salamander asked, shrugging his shoulders.

"Umm the Avengers are a property of Marvel Comics so…we can't use that." Captain Marvel said, scratching his head.

"Uh huh I see, Captain _Marvel_. Good catch there!" The dragon slayer snickered at seeing how angry his friend got.

"I'm not changing my name and that's final! I like how it sounds!" The Captain of Thunder said, stomping his foot childishly.

"Anyways, maybe the big guy's gotta point. With all of us behind it, it just might work." The crimson speedster raised his hand to shake Superman's hand. "Count me in."

"Me too." Green Lantern said, walking over to the two.

Hawkgirl silently followed after him. She raised her hand to meet theirs, "And me."

Captain Marvel beamed and started walking over to the group. He stopped and turned around to see Salamander still standing there with his arms crossed. "Aren't you coming?" He asked his friend.

Wonder Woman looked uneasy about the decision herself. "My mother may not approve but I find man's world to be intriguing. I'll gladly join." The Amazonian walked over to join her fellow comrades.

The only two left standing out were Batman and Salamander. "What about you two; Batman, Salamander?" Superman asked the two loners.

"I'm not really a people person, but when you need help and you will…call me." The Dark Knight replied, looking to the hooded figure for his answer as well.

"And you?" Superman asked the hooded figure.

"Ehhh…I'm with Broody over there. Working with other people…i-it's not really my thing. I think you've got enough superheroes on your roster. Believe me when I say, you don't want me on your league. I kind of…destroy more than I protect." Natsu chuckled humorlessly, shrugging his shoulders.

Superman lowered his brow in disappointment. "I see. Well what about you Captain Marvel?" The Kryptonian asked.

Captain Marvel was torn. Here his hero was asking him for his help, but…"I-I'm sorry, but what my friend said before was true. We…we're kind of a package deal. Sorry." He said, walking back to his friend.

"You can't just turn your back on your fellow men! Join us!" Diana yelled.

Superman gripped her shoulder softly. "It's ok, Diana. If they don't want to join, then I won't force them. But, if the situation calls for it, can we count on your assistance?"

Natsu knew already how he would respond: Hell no. He was about to open his mouth to speak, but saw the pleading Captain Marvel through his peripheral vision. Urgh…of all the Billy's in the world to befriend, he had to choose the one with powers AND a hero complex. "Fine fine, just stop looking at me with those damn puppy dog eyes of yours!" Natsu exclaimed, chuckling softly at Captain Marvel jumping for joy. "BUT! You're still my pupil, Cap, so I determine whether or not you go on missions, got it?" There would be no negotiating on that.

"B-but…" Captain Marvel stuttered.

Natsu leaned in to whisper in his ear. "Remember the promise?"

Captain Marvel thought back to what Natsu had promised his mom. How he wouldn't allow him to get caught up in anything dangerous again. Besides, his mom would be keeping a close eye on him now as well as his school attendance. If he missed one more day…he shuddered at thinking about what his parents would do to him. "F-fine" He pouted.

Natsu sighed. "And there you have it. Well, Supes, you've got yourself a hero…and me. Congrats, I guess" He muttered to himself.

Superman nodded. "Then we're all agreed."

Diana stepped forward. "Wait, J'onn's not here."

"Hey yeah, where is he?" The crimson speedster asked.

Superman flew upwards towards one of the tower's control panels. He saw the Martian motionlessly staring at the dark empty void that was outer space. "J'onn, are you all right?"

The Martian continued staring out in the empty void of space. "My family and all my loved ones are gone. I am the last of my kind." His head drooped slightly at remembering that.

Superman smiled weakly and put his hand on the Martian's shoulders. "I know the feeling."

"Now Mars is dead and I am alone in the universe." J'onn replied emotionlessly.

"J'onn we can never replace the family you've lost, but we'd be honored if you could learn to call Earth your home." Superman asked. The Martian turned his head to look at the Kryptonian to see him giving him a small smile.

J'onn replied to him with a small smile of his own.

"C'mon." Superman said, grabbing a hold of the Martian's shoulders. The two flew down to the rest of the group and welcomed the lone Martian with open arms.

Captain Marvel nudged Natsu closer to them. Natsu tried to fight him, but he was far too tired to stop him. Fine, he'd help them, but they weren't friends or anything like that. Work associates and nothing more. That was how it would be and that was how it would stay. He looked upwards to the smiling face of his friend and just hoped he could keep his promise to his mom.

He wanted to keep at least one promise.

 _ **Inside the Watchtower**_

A week had passed since the Justice League had been formed. Most of the heroes went about their separate lives until they were called to duty or stayed at the Watchtower. Right now, Natsu was chewing on some bubblegum as he watched another failed attempt of flirtation between the Flash and Hawkgirl. The crimson speedster was chewing on his candy bar as he watched the orange-haired woman work on the Watchtower. "Back on Thanagar you were a cop, huh?" He asked.

"Detective." She replied tersely.

"So what's it like there?" He asked.

"The same as anywhere I suppose. There are criminals and we catch them." She replied, looking away from him and continued staring at the machine.

The Flash could see that she wasn't really in the mood for a conversation, but he wouldn't give up. "And what about when you're not catching criminals? When you're not at work?" Natsu rolled his eyes at what the crimson speedster was getting at and laid back in his seat for the obvious conclusion to this…flirting.

"What about it?" She asked, turning herself to look at him.

"Well, is there a…Hawkboy?" He questioned with a smile. Right then, J'onn entered the room through the elevator and looked to see both the Flash and Hawkgirl conversing with each other along with the Salamander on the sidelines. Hawkgirl smirked at his obvious flirtation and flew next to the Martian.

"I'll be doing maintenance." She smiled and walked away to the elevator. As she disappeared down the elevator, Natsu clapped his hands together in fake applause. The Flash turned to see him sarcastically applauding and gave him a bow.

"Thank you, thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed the show. Be sure to stick around because there are several more showings on the horizon." He chuckled as he turned to see J'onn standing right beside him. He could see the slight disapproval in his eyes, "What? Don't you ever get lonely?" The crimson speedster immediately regretted asking that question.

The Martian's eyes hardened, "More than you could imagine." The Flash's eyes softened as he tried to apologize, but then a blaring alarm cut him off before he could apologize. He sighed as he watched the Martian walk away from him and made a mental note to apologize to him later. The speedster then sped over to the window where J'onn and him saw several ruby-clad unknown aliens fly past them heading towards Earth.

"Oh man, another invasion?! Didn't we just have one not too long ago?" The Salamander replied with a groan. He could see the aliens fly past their tower through the windows and moaned at being put on Watchtower duty today of all days.

"I'll notify the others." J'onn said as he walked away from the window. He turned to see the Salamander snoring in his seat. "I know you're not asleep."

"Zzzzz…yes I am. Zzzzz…sleeping. Zzzzz…I'm making sleeping noises." The Flash smirked and sped over to the fake sleeper and grabbed ahold of him and shook him. Natsu quickly shot up from the Flash's shakings and pointed at him. "Never do that again! …or at least give me some warning because that was awesome!" He yelled, sitting back in his chair. "Quick quick! Spin me now!"

Sadly, the Flash waved his finger negatively. "Sorry, duty calls." He said and sped off.

Natsu groaned and slowly followed after him and the Martian. His feet carried him aboard their spaceship and sat down on the seats. _'Ugh this is gonna suck. Not only do I have to go on another stupid mission, but I have to fly to get to said stupid mission!'_ Natsu watched as the Hawkgirl, Flash, and J'onn took their seats. He rose his hand and waved to get the attention of the Martian, "Umm permission to stay aboard the Watchtower? I mean, who knows if those alien invader will…"

"No. We need all available hands for this problem. Wonder Woman is on another case, Superman's dealing with an earthquake, and Batman would just say he's busy." J'onn replied, taping the necessary buttons to initiate lift off.

"Typical." Hawkgirl said as she rolled her eyes.

"What about G.L. and Captain Marvel?" The Flash asked.

"I couldn't reach the Green Lantern. And as for Captain Marvel…" J'onn turned around to look at the Salamander.

Natsu shook his head negatively. "Sorry, but Marvel is busy with his own thing. Although, I'm sure he wished he could be here." He chuckled, but quickly held his stomach as the ship began to take off. _'Stupid motion sickness.'_

 _ **Fawcett City Elementary School**_

Billy laid his head on his desk as he listened to another boring lecture by his boring teacher. "Man…I wish I was with Natsu and the others. I bet I would be having way more fun with them then here at stupid school."

"What was that, Mr. Batson?" His teacher responded with an inquisitive glare.

Billy shot up in fright. "N-nothing, Mrs. Walkins!"

"Good, now since you desire to have fun, then perhaps you can take this pop quiz I was going to throw away, but instead I'll just give to you." She smiled as she reached over in her desk for one of the pop quizzes.

Billy slammed his head on his desk and groaned.

 _ **Outside a Barber Shop**_

An African-American man was sitting on a bench blowing in his hands for warmth. Today was a particularly chilly day then yesterday and he was wearing a beanie and coat to keep him warm. His eyes wandered up to then see three ruby-clad robot aliens coming towards him. His eyes widened in fear and he quickly sped off before those creatures could destroy anything around him. The three robots watched as the human ran away; their eyes zoomed in on him, but looked away when they saw he was not the target. They continued on their trek until they heard a voice, "Stop!" They looked up to see a spaceship with several more humanoids coming into their vicinity. They landed a few feet in front of them with the green humanoid walking closer to them. "What is your business here?" He asked.

"John Stewart, the Green Lantern." One of the robots answered.

"What for?" The Flash asked suspiciously.

"That is none of your concern." Another of the robots replied. The three then began to move forward until their movements were halted by both Hawkgirl and the Salamander.

"Well, pal, you did come to our planet unannounced and now you're asking for one the elite members of the League. So…I think a little information couldn't hurt, right?" Natsu asked with a shrug.

"You heard him. Talk." Hawkgirl said, gripping her mace tightly.

The head robot rose his iron rod above his head and swung it diagonally causing the two duck. "So, I guess that's a no, then? You go high and I go low?" Natsu asked, turning his head to look at Hawkgirl. She nodded with a smirk and swung her mace upwards to collide with the robot's head and Natsu took that as his chance to ignite his fist, " **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!** " His ignited fist slammed right into its stomach and causing the robot to sail across the street and colliding with a car parked on the street.

Another of the robot's quickly grabbed ahold of Hawkgirl's mace and threw her across the street. The Flash swiftly zoomed his way to catch her before she fell which left J'onn and Natsu to handle the other two robots. The speedster jumped on top of several cars to catch up to the falling Hawkgirl and quickly caught her before she collided with an stagnant truck. "Aren't you gonna thank me?" He asked with a smirk.

She smiled, "Down, boy." The Thanagarian then quickly stretched her wings flew out of his arms and straight back to the fight. Before he could join her, he turned his head to see another one of the robots running towards him. He smirked and motioned the robot to follow him.

J'onn jumped towards the one of the robots and was rewarded with an electrified rod to his lower abdomen. Natsu cringed at seeing how close he came to his crotch being zapped from one of the rods. "Hey, don't you damn Terminators know that below the belt moves are illegal!" He yelled as he ran towards the robots and ducked down underneath the electrified rods. " **Fire Dragon's Spinning Claw!** " He quickly spun his body sideways, moving his legs to sweep the two robots off of their feet. The two robots flew upwards as they were swept off of the ground and collided with the concrete with a groan. Natsu hastily moved to collide his fist with one of the robots and received a shock from one of the downed robots. He smirked as he felt the electricity flow through his body and forced the electricity to his palms and moved his hands to his mouth.

The robots were stunned at seeing a humanoid creature eat the electricity coming from one of their weapons. "Mmm…tasty. Thanks for the meal!" Natsu smirked as he kicked the robots head, causing it to fly into an empty car. Natsu rose his hands above his head, "And it's good! Oh can you hear the scream of that crowd! The Salamander has just won the Super Bowl!" As Natsu chanted his victory screech, the other downed robot quickly got to its feet and extended its rod and rose it to strike the humanoid until suddenly it received a green fist to the back of its head. The robot soared towards its comrade and landed right on top of him, both grunting in pain.

Natsu turned around to see a frowning Martian, "Don't get cocky. There is more than one of them." J'onn stated. Natsu chuckled and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. His head moved to the side of the Martian and saw Hawkgirl flying back over here with the Flash not too far behind with another one of the robots on his tail. He pointed behind the Martian to signal him to look behind him and the two nodded in affirmation and ran towards the last robot invader. Hawkgirl saw the two running towards her direction and looked behind her to see one of the robots chasing the Flash and gripped her mace tightly in her hands.

"This one's mine!" She said through gritted teeth and spun around to beat the robot into oblivion. The robot's sensors alerted it to an enemy approaching and swung its rod into Hawkgirl's stomach and zapped her having her scream in pain and swing her into another car. The Flash looked behind her and turned his body around to help her before the robot finished the job. The robot slowly walked over to the downed Hawkgirl and raised his rod to finish her until a blue blur rammed right into him and forced him into a wall.

Hawkgirl slowly opened her eyes to see a hand in front of her face. "Need a hand?" Superman asked. She softly brushed his hand away and shook her head. Her body wasn't that injured and she was able to will her body out of the car and shakily stand up. The Flash zoomed in front of her and looked to Superman in mild shock.

"I thought you were handling an earthquake situation." He said to the Kryptonian.

Superman shrugged, "It was only a 4.0."

"Yeah, only you can say that with a straight face." The Flash deadpanned.

Superman smiled and turned his head to see J'onn and the Salamander running over to them. "See, I told you that was Superman! It's pretty hard to mistake that big ol' S for anyone else." Natsu said to the Martian.

"I'm glad you're here to assist us." J'onn said.

"Any reason why they're here in the first place?" Superman asked.

"I'll give you a hint: his suit is green, his ring is green, and his eyes are green." Natsu said with a smirk.

"So they're here for John, but why?" The Kryptonian asked.

"Because he is a criminal." They turned their heads to see the two other robots walk towards them. Sounds of rubble being moved and they saw the third robot moving out of the wall that Superman rammed him into.

"I can assure you that the Green Lantern is no criminal. There must be some kind of mistake." Superman said.

"There is no mistake. We will apprehend the man known as John Stewart for his crimes and if you try to protect him, then you are our enemies." The head robot said.

The Flash shrugged. "Well, I guess enemies it is then." His feet were about to speed towards the two robots until two green walls separated the heroes from the robots.

"That's enough!" A voice yelled. They all looked up to see the Green Lantern floating above them with his ring illuminated.

"Phew, better late than never. How's about we kick these robots to the junk heap, G.L." The Flash smiled. John, however, ignored him and walked towards the other two robots. The third one slowly walked over to its brethren and stood in judgement of the criminal.

"You are the Green Lantern known as John Stewart?" One of the robots asked.

"I am." John replied.

"Your ring." Another robot said, its hand stretched out with its palm open. John took a deep breath and stared at the ring he was given a long time ago. He sighed tiredly and slowly took it off of his finger. The others watched in shock as John gave his ring over to the robot invaders.

"John." Superman said shocked.

"What are you doing?" The Flash asked angrily.

"Stay out of this! All of you. None of this concerns you." John said, his eyes boring into his friends. He didn't want to involve them in this. Natsu looked down at John's hands and could see them slightly trembling. Something was definitely odd about all of this…

"You will come with us." The third robot said as he handcuffed the prisoner's hands. Then, a yellow beam surrounded them and caused them to shoot upwards into it and disappear.

The others stared upwards into the sky and looked worriedly at one another. "W-we're not gonna just let them take him, are we?" The speedster asked.

"Of course not. We'll head back to the Watchtower and hopefully J'onn can sense him from there." Superman replied, crossing his arms. The others nodded and they headed back to the spaceship with questions swirling inside their head regarding a certain Green Lantern.

 _ **Watchtower**_

The Martian stared through the window with glowing eyes as he sensed for the Green Lantern throughout the various solar systems. "Man, he's been going at it for hours. How long till you think he is gonna find him?" Natsu asked, lying back in his chair.

"As long as it takes I suppose." The Kryptonian replied, staring at the Martian.

Hawkgirl growled impatiently and gripped her mace firmly. "He shouldn't have gone with them! We could have easily taken down those guys. If he had just waited or at least helped us, then we wouldn't have to be going through this."

The Flash shrugged as he leaned against a control panel, "Well maybe he thought he was protecting us. I don't agree with his decision, but he made his choice. Now we've gotta go save his sorry butt."

J'onn's eyes returned to normal as he uttered, "I sense turmoil from a heavy heart."

"Pshh I could've told you that. So did you find him?" The speedster muttered.

The Martian stroked his chin. "He's looking at stars from what I can gather."

"But which stars, J'onn. There are billions of stars throughout the galaxy." The Kryptonian said as he flew towards a panel in the center of the room. He touched the button in the middle causing it to reveal a plethora of stars gathered across the galaxy. The rest of the others walked towards the hologram and looked closely at it.

J'onn looked intensely and tried to map out where exactly his friend was in this plethora of stars. His mind pointed him towards a certain planet and pointed at it. "There. That's where he is." As he pointed at the holographic planet, a name appeared in front of it, Ajuris 5.

"Welp, I guess that's where you're all headed." Natsu said, stretching as he yawned back in his seat. "I think I'll just sit back here…and sleep." He smiled, but it quickly vanished when he felt a hand grip the scruff of his coat.

"Nice try, but we're all going." Hawkgirl stated, not leaving anything in her tone for debate. Natsu sighed as he recognized that particular tone. He had been near plenty of strong-willed women to tell that there was no way to negotiate, or in his case, weasel out of it.

The Flash chuckled as he saw the Thanagarian detective drag the Salamander across the room towards the ship and slowly followed them along with the Kryptonian and the Martian. "Fine, but if I hurl on anyone of you, you'll have no one to blame but yourselves!" Natsu yelled, crossing his arms angrily.

"Fine by me. Just as long as you're fine getting a mace where the sun don't shine." Hawkgirl smirked as she looked back at him with a devilish look on her face. Natsu gulped and chuckled nervously at hearing her threat and uttered a quick 'no thank you' to the Thanagarian. She nodded firmly and continued dragging the dragon slayer towards the death machine…err…spaceship.

 _ **Outside the orbit of Ajuras 5**_

As the spaceship exited hyperdrive, in front of it was a humongous red planet with millions of rocks floating around its orbit. Superman slowly tilted the ship to the left as they entered its orbit and followed the Martian's directions towards their comrade. Hawkgirl drummed her fingers on top of her armrest. "Why would he give them his ring? It still doesn't make any sense." She muttered.

"Well John's a strange one that's for sure." Superman replied.

"I'm beginning to think all you humans are." She said, moving her eyes to stare at the man. She saw that she mildly offended him. Rats…that wasn't what she had meant to do. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I take it as a compliment." Superman replied with a smile.

Natsu snorted in the back and then groaned. "Ugh…when the…hrgh…heck are we gonna get there. Also, no offense to either of you or hell any of us, but none of….ugh….us can really judge whether something is normal or n-not. Oh my gosh…I think this damn machine is gonna kill me." Natsu said as he felt the ship move slightly.

The Flash chuckled at that. "Sir Groans-a-lot has a point here. None of us are exactly "normal." Which is fine by me anyways because it's a hell of an icebreaker when you say that you can break the sound barrier. Superman knows what I'm talking about, right bud?" The speedster said with a pat on the Kryptonian's shoulder.

Superman rubbed the back of his head embarrassedly. "I can't really agree with that statement." His head lowered as he tried to hide his oncoming blush as he thought about a certain black-haired news reporter back on Earth. "Now how ab-" Superman was interrupted as he felt a laser blast hit the ship causing it to rumble heavily. Natsu groaned even louder and covered his mouth in case of any vomit protruded from his mouth. He seriously did not want any maces going where the sun didn't shine. Smoke billowed from the blast area and when it cleared it showed three spaceships firing at them from the front of them. As the ships fired from the front, they passed them overhead and circled back for another round.

"They're coming back!" The Flash yelled as he looked behind them. The speedster quickly tapped the buttons in front of them in hopes of getting into contact with the shooters. "They're not responding to our signals."

Hawkgirl growled as she grabbed her mace from her side. "It's clear what they want so I say we give to them. As she was about to exit the ship, Superman quickly grabbed her arm.

"No, we're not here to start a war." He said firmly, slowly getting up off of his seat and walking to the back of the ship. Hawkgirl grasped her wrist and grunted as she could still feel the power of the Krptonian's grip on her. Superman passed the Flash as he walked past him, "Flash take the controls. Hawkgirl, J'onn follow me. And follow my lead, understand?" His eyes moved to a certain Thanagarian. Hawkgirl gave him a faux salute and rolled her eyes when he turned his back. Natsu moaned as he saw the three pass him and saw the crimson speedster take the controls of the ship. He seriously hoped this guy could fly the ship…

Another round of laser beams hit the ship as the three exited the ship through the bottom door. They quickly flew out of the ship and each of them followed their own ship to stop them from destroying their own. Superman quickly veered to the right to follow one of said enemy ships and used his laser vision to destroy the turrets on the side of the ship. The Kryptonian then turned his body to swerve around the ship and grab ahold of the back of it. His hands gripped the two flaps protruding from the back of the ship and slammed his feet down on the hull causing the pilot to lose control of the ship.

J'onn followed Superman's lead and went for his own enemy ship. The enemy ship took aim at the Martian and fired several shots at him. J'onn crossed his arms and phased his body so the shots went right through him. As the ship tried to crash into his non-corporal body, J'onn flew straight through it to create a hole. The ship then began to swerve out of control leaving J'onn to wonder how his friends were faring against the enemy ships. He turned around to see the last of the three ships firing their lasers at Hawkgirl as she continued to dodge every single bullet. Hawkgirl veered left and right to avoid the ship's laser beams and gripped her mace tightly in fury as she turned her body to fly towards the ship and bashed her weapon against the hull of the ship; causing it's back engine to explode and forcing it to plummet to the ground.

"Hawkgirl!" Superman exclaimed as he dove straight towards the plummeting ship.

"What?" Hawkgirl questioned, confused as to why the Krpytonian cared as to why she defeated the enemy ship. She looked downwards to see the plunging ship heading straight towards a crowded city. "Oh that." Hawkgirl said, replying to her own question.

Superman speedily flew downwards towards the crashing ship and grabbed the bottom half of it and slowly helped descend it carefully to the ground. Superman's muscles slightly exerted as he used his super strength to help him guide the falling ship towards the ground. Aliens in the city looked up in fear as they saw the ship heading straight towards them and quickly moved to get out of the way. Luckily, Superman was able to safely lead the ship safely to the ground and softly placed it on the floor. He then flew towards the back of the ship and inhaled a deep breath and then used his super breath to blow out the remaining fire from the damaged engine.

Unfortunately, two other people were not having the same easy time landing their own ship. Flash quickly began typing random buttons on the control panel as he tried to also narrowly avoid buildings. "Flash, take the controls. But does anyone ask if I know how?" He mumbled to himself.

Natsu looked half angrily and half sickly over at the speedster, "Do you?!" He yelled. The Flash looked to him and gave him a light shrug with an awkward smile. Natsu then held on tightly to the seat handles in even more fear. _'I hate my life. I hate my life. I hate my life. I hate my life.'_

The Flash continued trying to keep the ship steady and smiled as he saw a landing zone just up ahead. He gripped the steering wheel tightly and moved to lower the ship down onto the landing zone carefully. The ship teetered from side to side as it crashed onto the ground; sliding towards the edge of the LZ. The speedster gasped as he saw them heading straight for the edge and inwardly prayed for a miracle. Luckily for them, the ship barely stopped in time before the ship could fall of the edge of the landing zone. The Flash blew a sigh of relief and jumped slightly as he saw the pale green face of the Salamander and moved to open the door of the ship. Natsu quickly sped out of the ship and ran to the edge of the landing zone and blew chunks downwards. Hopefully that wouldn't hit anyone…

The Flash walked to the sickly dragon slayer and patted him on the back. "Well they say any landing you walk away from is a…" He stopped talking as he heard guns cocking right behind the two. The speedster turned his body to see several aliens pointing their weapons at them with angry looks on their faces. "Ok, bud, we gotta go!" The Flash said as he grabbed ahold of the Salamander and sped back to the ship; narrowly missing the incoming laser bullets. Natsu groaned as the Flash put him back in his seat. The Flash sat back into the pilot's seat and began typing random buttons again. "Come on, starter starter! Which one's the starter?!" He said angrily as bullets ricocheted off of the hull of the ship. Fortunately, Superman, Hawkgirl, and J'onn quickly flew down to the ship and moved to dispatch the enemies. Superman grabbed ahold of one of the aliens and threw him into another one. One of them fired at the Kryptonian, but the bullet failed to hurt him. He then used his laser vision to destroy the alien's weapon; causing it to blow up in its hands. Several aliens then moved to dogpile onto the Kryptonian, but it was in vain as he began to throw them on-by-one onto the ground and ship; scaring the Flash as he saw an unconscious alien crash onto the front glass of the ship.

Hawkgirl then moved to join the battle as she used her mace to bash both aliens and their weapons with ease. J'onn moved to fight the aliens shooting at the hull of the ship and quickly phased through their laser bullets and ran to one of the aliens to grab it and throw it onto one of its comrades. He then phased into the ground to avoid another laser bullet and phased upwards to grab the alien and shone his glowing orange eyes; shining fear on the alien's face by this scary foe. The door of the ship opened again to show a slow moving Salamander and walking Flash. "I had everything under control. Honest!" The speedster yelled.

"Oh yeah. It sure seemed that way." Hawkgirl muttered with a smirk.

J'onn then dropped the unconscious alien to the floor and looked to his friends. "Green Lantern is close by. That way." He said, pointing towards a towering building that was by far the largest of any building in this city.

"W-well, hopefully we won't run into any more of those stupid aliens again. Then again, I still need some payback for the hell they just put me through. But before that…" Natsu stepped on the crimson speedster's foot in anger; causing the Flash to jump up in pain as he gripped his foot. "That's for your shitty flying! And for the three of you, next time you leave a ship, make sure the person you leave it to is able to actually fly the freaking thing!" He yelled vehemently, stomping angrily towards the large building.

"As much as I hate that guy right now, he does have a point." The Flash muttered as he followed after the stomping Salamander.

Superman rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I'll take that into consideration next time." He said as he followed the rest of the heroes.

 _ **Judgement Hall**_

A sole green ring lay on a round platform in front of the Green Lantern as he stood in judgement. His head was lowered in anger and sorrow as his eyes flickered from the ring and back to the floor. Thousands of alien's eyes bore into the back of his head in rage. His head turned to look at the thousands of aliens sitting in the hall as they looked at him with nothing but contempt. His head then rose when he heard the prosecutors voice again, "There is no excuse for this horror. And there can be no escape from punishment. An example must be made." The alien prosecutor continued to stare angrily down at the Green Lantern as he gave his speech. John stared right back at the prosecutor and looked straight into his tan oddly shaped face and looked into his red eyes. A sizzling sound was heard from the glass ceiling above them and everyone saw Superman creating a hole from his heat vision to enter the hall. The Kryptonian then flew straight through the hole followed by J'onn carrying the Flash along with Hawkgirl carrying the Salamander and they all landed below the floating platforms their friend was on. The crowd began to yell angrily as they saw several aliens break into the hall unannounced.

"Oh no." John muttered to himself, shutting his eyes in disbelief.

"Order! Order! We will have order!" One of the judges on the floating screen yelled.

"What is this? Some kind of trial?" The Flash asked.

"Apparently." Superman replied.

Natsu looked around to see thousands of angry aliens seated throughout the hall and looked up to see three strange faces being shown on a floating screen. "Remove these intruders immediately!" Another of the faces yelled from the screen. Several orange aliens began heading towards the heroes to remove them from the hall. Superman grabbed two of the aliens and threw them forward; causing them to slide onto the ground. Two more were coming from behind them, but Natsu tripped one of them and the Flash used that to his advantage to grab ahold of it and spin him around until it collapsed to the floor. Natsu then grabbed the other in a headlock and ignited his fist and repeatedly began to bash the alien in the face and pushed him to Hawkgirl as she readied her mace and smacked it into the alien's face causing it to fly across the room. "And he is outta here!" Natsu yelled, pointing towards the soaring alien.

The robots known as the Manhunters then readied their weapons and were about to attack the heroes before Superman raised his hand, "Wait! We apologize for disrupting these proceedings, but John Stewart is our friend."

"This is a public trial." The female voice from the screen said.

"Very well. You may take your seats in the gallery." Voice #1 said.

"But this tribunal will not tolerate any further outbursts." Voice #2 said.

"Thank you, Your Honor." Superman said as he nodded. The five heroes then walked to a circular platform and it began to float them to their seats.

"I hope they have some food here." Natsu muttered.

"You just chucked your guts out and know you're thinking about food?!" The Flash said astonished.

Natsu shrugged. "Well I gotta replace the food I lost with more food. It's simple science." He said with a smirk.

The platform floated them to an empty aisle and they all took their seats accordingly. The heroes stared at the sole Green Lantern as they awaited what happened next. "Will you call your first witness?" Voice #2 asked the prosecutor.

"I will, Your Honor. I call Kanjar-Ro." The prosecutor said, looking towards the hallway that led to the hall.

Footsteps began to echo through the silent hall and out stepped a pink alien clad in blue as he stepped toward the circular platform. An orange alien stepped in front of him. "Kanjar-Ro, do you agree to let us probe and display any and all memories you have?"

"I've got nothing to hide." Kanjar-Ro said as he stepped past the orange alien and onto the platform. It then began to rise upwards towards the prosecutor.

"State your name and profession." The prosecutor asked.

"Kanjar-Ro. I'm…a pirate." He replied.

"A criminal? Yet you come here to bear witness to another crime. Why?" The prosecutor asked.

"Because-" The pirate began to speak before he was interrupted by a voice.

"Probably because he hates the Green Lanterns! He's a freaking criminal for fuck's sake!" The Salamander yelled, startling the crowd and having all eyes on him.

"Salamander!" Superman exclaimed, moving to grab the man before he was sidestepped.

"Oh come on, you don't actually believe this shit stain do you, Supes? How can his words be taken seriously when he has a criminal past. He's probably been taken in by several Green Lanterns!" Natsu continued to yell. Mumbles began to surface throughout the crowd from the man's outburst.

John pinched his nose in anger as he heard one of the judges yell. "Order! Order! Another outburst from the likes of you and will hold you in contempt of court! Do not try our generosity for allowing you to stay in this hall!" Voice #1 yelled.

Natsu gritted his teeth and was about to yell again before Superman covered his mouth and forced him to sit down. "I know you're angry. I am too, but yelling about it isn't going to help anyone. Especially John." The Kryptonian whispered.

"Maybe he's right. That guy doesn't exactly scream 'trustworthy'." Hawkgirl said.

"That doesn't matter right now." Superman raised himself from his seat. "Please forgive my friend's outbursts. I promise they won't happen again, Your Honor." He said, bowing to the judges.

"Good. You may carry on now, prosecutor." Voice #3 said.

The prosecutor glared angrily at the oddly clad man that shouted before he continued questioning the pirate. "Please continue, Kanjar-Ro."

"Ahem…well, I may steal things, but it's nothing compared to what he did." The pirate uttered, pointing towards the Green Lantern. Indistinct chattering began to surface again from the crowds. The heroes slightly leaned forward as they continued listening. The prosecutor's floating platform began to slowly move to the pirate's own and pressed a button in front of him. A light began to shine down from the ceiling onto the pirate and he slightly flinched as he felt the light envelop him, but slowly open his eyes as he saw that it didn't hurt him.

"Tell us about your encounter with John Stewart." The prosecutor said.

The pirate looked behind him to see the man standing on a platform right behind him. His eyes wandered down to see that he didn't have his ring on him and he arms were chained together. Kanjar-Ro blew a small sigh of relief. "It all started with these blasters I…found."

"Bullshit." Natsu coughed, uttering a small chuckle from the Flash and a smile from Hawkgirl.

"I was on my way to sell them to some rebels on Adjouris 4. That's when he showed up." Kanjar-Ro muttered with contempt. He closed his eyes as he pictured the event. The pirate was flying his yellow ship as he looked to his right to see the Green Lantern flying right beside him. He swerved to the right to avoid him, but John continued to follow him. "I figured he was gonna try to stop me so I shot first." Laser beams shot from his cannon towards the Green Lantern. John narrowly avoided the shots and moved to fire a green beam onto the bottom of his ship. "His ring tore out my engine. But he still wasn't done with me. He wanted to know if I was working with anyone. I told him to turn around to see for himself." The Green Lantern turned around to see several alien ships hovering above him. Some of them began to fire at him as he dodged their shots. "He tried to shoot my friends but his beam bounced off of their deflector shield and shot towards Adjouris 4. There, it hit a volcanic fault line …starting a devastating chain reaction. The planet…blew up shortly afterwards. Three billion…that's how many were on that planet."

Another Green Lantern in the crown lowered his head in sadness as he heard what one of his comrades had done. Superman, J'onn, and the Flash looked shocked at what they had heard, but Hawkgirl and the Salamander remained skeptical. "I have no more questions." The prosecutor said.

"This account is most disturbing. We will recess…20 petacycles." Voice #2 said as the three faces then disappeared from the screen.

The five heroes then moved to leave their aisle and walk towards the Green Lantern's descending platform. The Flash was the first to make it to G.L., "Now I get it. You wanted to clear your name. That's why you didn't want to put up a fight back on Earth."

"I told you guys to stay out of this." John said.

"That scum's an obvious liar. Give me five minutes with him. I'll get the truth." Hawkgirl replied, glaring at the retreating pirate.

"Yeah and tell him to take a freakin' shower while you're at it. The guy's got bullshit coming out of his skin." Natsu grinned.

"Salamander, Hawkgirl, Flash, all of you…listen to me. Nobody's lying. Do you see that?" Green Lantern asked, looking up towards two shining lights in space. "I did it. I…I'm guilty." John said.

The others stared wide-eyed at the heroes confession and wondered for a split second…

Did he really do it?

 **AAAAAAAAAND THAT'S A WRAP! Oh boy this chapter took me a while to type out. I think a lot of these chapters are gonna take a hell of a lot out of me, but it's all worth it if you all enjoy it. I am happy to read all the positive reviews along with seeing all of the favorites and follows I'm getting for this story. It really means a lot to me that you are liking how I'm taking this story. I hope you all continue to enjoy this story as well!**

 **Now as for the pairings, I was thinking of adding Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Hawkgirl, Batgirl, Black Canary, Zatanna, Power Girl (I already know how I'm going to incorporate her into the story since she kinda already exists in this series…or at least will in Unlimited.), and who knows…perhaps others as well ;). I may even add some villainesses to Natsu's harem seeing as all women just love a bad boy. Just look at Batman XD.**

 **Well I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please favorite, follow, and REVIEW!**


	3. Chapter 3

**HERE I AM AGAIN! …HERE I GO NOW!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Justice League or Fairy Tail or any other properties. They all belong to their own respective owners.**

" _I did it. I'm guilty."_

Those small words were still swirling around in many of the Justice League member's heads. There was just so much wrong with that statement. Sure they hadn't known John the Green Lantern for long, but he still seemed like a just man. Surely he could have never done something so horrific as ending three billion lives…

"Three billion lives. I can't believe it." The Flash whispered, staring at the ground. Still shocked as to what his friend had told him before being led away from the courtroom.

Superman stroked his chin as he stared at the wide void of space and shook his head. "Neither do I." He said and turned to walk away. "I want to take a closer look at what happened."

"Why? John admits he's guilty. No one's disputing the facts." Hawkgirl replied.

"We don't know it's a fact yet. Besides, even if it is, he made a mistake. Surely you heroes have made mistakes in your life, right?" Natsu mumbled.

Superman stopped and lowered his head. He gripped his forehead at remembering…that horrific event. He would never forget…and never forgive himself. "People make mistakes. That much is true, but we haven't still truly figured out if John is guilty or not." The Kryptonian said, walking over to the Martian. "J'onn, I'm going to need you to come with me. Flash, Salamander, Hawkgirl, can you buy us some time in the courtroom?"

"You're asking the world's fastest man to slow things down? Won't be easy." The speedster scoffed.

"I'm sure we'll think of a way." Natsu shrugged with a small grin, turning around to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Hawkgirl asked.

"Hungry." The fire mage replied, walking down the long, dark corridor until his figure vanished into it.

"Alright, I'm leaving it up to you now. Come on, J'onn." Superman said, shooting himself into the sky with the Martian close by.

The Flash sighed to himself as he watched the three leave him alone with just Hawkgirl. Normally he would have used this time to try to woo this beautiful alien woman, but… "Hey, do you think…do you really think he did it." He whispered to her.

The Thanagarian cop looked to him. "Honestly, I have no idea. But I don't think John is the type of person who would lie about killing three billion people. So I really don't know what to believe."

"Yeah…me too." The Flash sighed, hoping that he could save his friend from whatever was tormenting him.

* * *

A lone figure watched from the cover of darkness as he saw the Kryptonian and the Martian land beside their ship. His eyes staring closely as he stared at them conversing with each other as they boarded their ship. The figure had orders…and he would do whatever it took to keep what happened a secret. Even if it meant taking on the Justice League.

As the two were walking aboard the ship, J'onn turned to Superman. "So, what do you expect to find on this moon?"

"I don't know. There's just something bothering me about the whole thing. Just call it a-" He replied until he was interrupted.

"An intuition?" J'onn asked.

"Exactly." Superman nodded.

The two then entered the ship and slowly took off towards the moon where everything supposedly took place. The figure shirked back into the corridor as he stared at them take off and moved back to make sure nobody would- "OOF!" Kanjar Ro grunted as he fell to the floor. He rubbed the back of his neck as he stared up at that same fool who yelled inside the courtroom.

"Hey, buddy. Watcha doing? Pretty suspicious staring at those two out her in the distance. Why, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were spying on them." Natsu smiled, making the pink alien uncomfortable.

"I-I have no idea what y-you're talking about. I merely walked out here to get some fresh air." Kanjar Ro stuttered. He had to make sure he wasn't discovered…

"Ah I see. Yeah, fresh air is always a good excuse. You almost made me believe you…care to try again?" Salamander asked, tilting his head with a patronizing stare.

Grrr….this stupid human. Why couldn't he just leave him be?! "I meant what I said! Now just leave me alone!" He yelled, trying to sidestep the human until he was grabbed by the scruff of his shirt and thrown into the wall. A grunt of pain expelled from his mouth as he slid down from the wall to the floor.

Natsu kneeled to look at him and stared deep into his eyes. "Now listen here, I don't know what happened there on that moon, and quite frankly, your lies are really starting to piss me off. So, here is what's gonna happen: I'm going to go back to the courtroom to help defend Mr. Stewart before he gets himself…shit I don't know about a hundred years in intergalactic prison or some shit for something he did or didn't commit. And also, if I don't also see you there…well then we're gonna have a big problem. You wouldn't want that, would you?" The demon asked, his eyes slowly turning darker with every word.

Kanjar Ro stared back at him with slight alarm as this human was getting more and more horrifying. But he couldn't disobey…if he did; something much worse would happen to him than whatever this…human would do to him. Although, something told him not to get on the bad side of this guy too… "O-Ok! I'll do it, ok?! I promise!" He whispered, hoping that he could somehow escape from the courtroom to keep those heroes from learning the truth.

Natsu raised his hand above the alien and Kanjar Ro flinched until he felt a small pat on his shoulder. "Good…good. I'm glad to hear that. See yeah there!" He beamed, jumping up from his kneeling position and walked off. "Whoo boy! I'm like super hungry! Anyone know where I can find some good grub here! Preferably one with not a lot of tentacles please?!" Natsu yelled with his hands behind his head.

Kanjar Ro stared bewilderingly at that…strange human and concluded that something was severely wrong with that guy.

* * *

Slow footsteps accompanied by loud munching was heard as Natsu entered back into the courtroom. He looked up to see those weird looking head judge things talking to John who was once again back on one of those floating circle things. Man…space was a weird place. His eyes looked to the left of John to see that Kanjar Ro was also present on another of the floating circles. Good…he really didn't want to have to hunt him down. A quiet whistle got his attention and he looked upwards behind him to see Hawkgirl and The Flash motioning to him. He then moved his body to climb the stairs and carefully avoided any of the other aliens, but stopped when he heard that one of those aliens had got barraged by someone's vomit not too long ago and chuckled awkwardly as he sat down next to The Flash and Hawkgirl.

"What's so funny?" The crimson speedster asked him.

Natsu swallowed another one of his weird purple pretzels that he bought, "Nothing."

"Where have you been? And what the heck are you eating?" The Thanagarian asked, staring at the oddly shaped purple pretzels he was eating.

"Honestly…I don't know. Somebody was selling them and they are the only thing even remotely resembling Earth food." Natsu replied, stuffing more of them into his mouth.

"Umm…why are they shaped like lizards with fangs?" The Flash questioned, pointing at them.

"Ugh, I told the guy to make them look like dragons! Geez, hasn't anyone even seen or at least heard of a dragon here!" The dragon slayer yelled, eliciting Hawkgirl to cover his mouth.

"Would you be quiet! Otherwise you're gonna get us all thrown out of here!" Hawkgirl whispered vehemently at him.

"Shorry!" Natsu replied with a full mouth.

Shayera rolled her eyes as she continued watching the court as The Flash speedily stole some of the pretzels; causing Natsu to growl angrily at him.

"John Stewart, you may now question the accuser if you so wish." Voice #1 asked.

"No questions." John quietly replied, looking down at the ground.

The Flash and Hawkgirl widened their eyes as they heard John's response while Natsu merely rolled his eyes in mild annoyance. "Here, hold this and don't eat any!" Natsu muttered, pushing his "dragon"-shaped pretzels onto the Flash and stomped down the stairs.

"What the heck is he doing?!" Shayera whispered.

"I don't know…but let's watch." The Flash replied, sitting back and munched on some of the pretzels.

"None? Don't you intend to defend yourself?" Voice #2 asked, mildly shocked at this human's refusal to save himself.

"No, I don't." John whispered, his voice slightly cracking.

Kanjar Ro slightly grinned as he motioned his floating circle down to the ground, but lost all sense of success when he saw that same human from before walking towards the court.

"Of course he won't defend himself. That's sadly my job. Then again, more sad for him because he's going to get a killer bill for making me get off my lazy ass." Natsu grinned.

"Excuse me?" Voice #3.

"Yeah! I object to this so called trial. I say it's a joke." The Flash yelled, until he was pulled back by Hawkgirl.

"Are you both out of your mind? What do you think you're doing?!" She asked him, tightening her grip on him.

"Prepare to be dazzled." He replied with a wink.

"Remove him! No, them both!" Voice #1 shouted.

Two hulking orange aliens then moved to grab the crimson speedster, but missed when he suddenly sped off. The Flash then swiftly collided with several of the aliens, making quick work of them. Three more of those same aliens started running towards the Natsu before he sighed and gave a mild shrug. He then quickly jumped backwards and slammed his feet on top of one of the alien's heads, slamming it down on the ground. After landing safely, he blocked one of the other alien's fists and ducked when the third alien swung at him. "C'mon! Don't you aliens know how to fight fair!" He yelled, kneeling down and once again avoiding their fists before igniting his fists and slamming them deep into their stomachs. The aliens shouted in pain, but were quickly silenced when the Flash zoomed up to them with a fast punch that simultaneously hit both of them and knocked them unconscious.

"You're welcome!" The Flash said with a smile.

Natsu sniffed the air and stared angrily at the speedster. "You ate my pretzels, didn't you?"

The speedster shrugged and sped off to face the three judges. "Listen to me. With something this important you got to hear both sides."

"Dumb as he is, he's right! Hearing one side doesn't exactly mean you've got the whole story." Natsu yelled at the three judges.

"I'm not that dumb. Err dumb, I mean! Make sure you put that in the record…assuming there is some kind of a record here." The crimson speedster yelled while staring angrily at the grinning Salamander.

"Oh no." Shayera mumbled, gripping the bridge of her nose.

John stared angrily at the two and motioned his floating device next to them. "Salamander, Flash, I told you not to get involved."

"They're railroading you, pal." The Flask replied, avoiding a swing from another alien while Natsu quickly roundhouse kicked the alien across the room.

"Haha Roadhouse!" Natsu muttered to himself, feeling a well of accomplishment from doing that.

"Nice." The speedster raised his hand high.

"Thank you very much!" The dragon slayer responded with a high-five, neither of the two breaking eye contact with the Green Lantern.

Several other aliens began to surround them and were about to lunge at them, but were stopped by one of the judges. "Wait! These beings may have a point. We don't want any lingering doubts about our final judgments, do we?" Voice #2 asked.

"Of course not." Voice #3 replied.

"Who will speak for John Stewart?" Voice #1 asked.

"Don't you have any lawyers here?" The Flash questioned them.

"We solved our lawyer problem a long time ago." Voice #1 replied.

"Dare I ask how?" Natsu asked, bracing himself for whatever crazy thing these people must have done in order to eliminate the need for lawyers.

"I wouldn't. Needless to say our society has been…much better so far to be quite perfectly honest." Voice #2 said.

"Wow…who knew?" The dragon slayer murmured to himself.

"Ahem. Anyways, perhaps one of you could speak for him, if you wish." Voice #2 asked.

"But be aware, if you lose you'll share the same penalty with the accused." Voice #1 told them with a dark tone of foreboding.

"I…don't like the sound of that. Anyone else?" Natsu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The same penalty? You mean…" The Flash's eyes focused on the cuffs that held John. "That's crazy!" He yelled in outrage.

"No, that's how we solved our lawyer problem." Voice #1 responded.

"Wow…this is one seriously fucked up society." The fire wizard shook his head, mildly chuckling to himself in disbelief.

"Regardless of our society's ways, what is your answer?" Voice #1 asked.

"You don't have to do this. Just leave now…you don't have to sacrifice yourselves for me. Please…just go." John pleaded. He didn't want to have to see his friends suffer…not like he soon would.

Natsu stared at the Green Lantern as he pleaded with them to leave. Surely leaving would be the smart thing to do. Odds are they couldn't win this case. Obviously everyone in the courtroom, hell, even his own Green Lantern comrades didn't believe in him. He had been able to catch snippets of their comments on his way to his seat. So, defending John would only lead to them being imprisoned for the rest of their lives…well the rest of those two's lives technically. Leaving John would be smart thing for everyone…

Too bad Natsu wasn't a smart person…

The Salamander sighed. "Well when you say it like that, I don't really have a choice now do I?" The Flash stared in disbelief as he heard those words coming out of his mouth while John merely muttered a quiet thank you in response. "Yup…no choice. I accept your terms!" Natsu yelled with a determined glare at the three judges, eliciting a wave of shocked murmurs from the crowd.

John stared bewildered at what he had just agreed to and was about to berate him for his stupidity before the Flash cut him off. "Come on, you really think I'm just gonna stand here and watch while my friend plays martyr! I'll defend him too!" He shouted with a smile, giving the Salamander a thumbs up.

"Very well, proceed." Voice #1 boomed.

The Flash cleared his throat as he walked forward. "Right, sure." He said, the circular podium rising towards the judges. Natsu followed his lead and gave the Green Lantern a thumbs up and got on his own and got on his own floating podium. "But first, I'd like to say a few things about…about _habeas corpus_ …yeah, _habeas corpus_!" The speedster rambled, poiting his index finger towards the three judicial mediators. Shayera slowly facepalmed as she listened to the fool's ramblings and just hoped that these two could pull this seemingly impossible task off…without anyone spending the rest of their lives in an intergalactic prison for the rest of their lives.

Kanjar Ro shifted awkwardly in his seat. He could feel the stares of the human and his employers; both putting him between what felt like a rock and a hard place. Ro's eyes slowly looked up to see the human's eyes boring into his head, as if he was staring straight into his soul while simultaneously trying to burn a hole through his skull, and looked away to avoid his fiery gaze. Whether that man would truly harm him if he disobeyed him was plainly obvious, but he wouldn't kill him…at least, he hoped he wouldn't. But it still would be nothing compared to what his employers would do to him if he defied their orders. Kanjar Ro's eyes shifted upwards and nearly jumped up in glee to see that the human's eyes had left him to look at the judges. Quickly, he used that distraction as a means for escape and exited the courtroom before he was spotted.

Unfortunately for him, as Hawkgirl shook her head within her hands disapprovingly at the idiot speedster's continuous ramblings about _habeas corpus_ and various other Latin words that that may or may not have had anything to do with the law, she noticed that cowardly little pink alien had vacated his seat. She quickly jumped out of her seat to look around for any sign of him, but could not find hide or hair of him. Silently cursing to herself in her native language, Shayera quickly left the courtroom to search for Ro before he disappeared. Natsu saw all of this as the Flash continued in his somewhat incoherent ramblings and butchering of an ancient dialect and cursed himself for actually thinking that that cowardly little smuggler would actually listen to him. Unfortunately, he couldn't just up and leave to put a major beatdown on the alien seeing as how he was one of the two "lawyers" representing the Green Lantern. So, all he could do was wait and hope that Hawkgirl would be able to find that damn coward…

…and that she would shove that mace of hers where the sun doesn't shine.

 _ **Cafeteria**_

Shayera had tried her best to follow the small pink alien, but unfortunately had lost him throughout the large crowd throughout the building. Perhaps he was hiding himself in a more crowded area so to hide himself until the case ends? Hawkgirl asked a random alien passing by as to what was the most populated area in the building. The alien replied that it would be the cafeteria seeing as how most people were stuffing themselves in fear now that the Green Lantern's friends were here to spring him out. Or…that's what the rumors said at least. Shayera thanked the alien and made her way to the cafeteria, shaking her head at the idiocy the people on this planet had. Entering the cafeteria, she immediately noticed just how large lunchroom clearly was and shifted her head side to side in order to see if Kanjar Ro was hiding amongst any of the passerby. No such luck…until she found another group of people that were beginning to royally piss her off.

Across the cafeteria, five other Green Lanterns were talking amongst themselves. It was obvious as to who the topic of their conversation was and slowly made her way to them. She may not have been able to take her anger out on that cowardly pink slimebag, but perhaps these "friends" of John could fill that place. As soon as Hawkgirl made her way to their table, she made her feelings perfectly clear, "Why aren't you at the trial?" She asked, trying to suppress the anger she felt just by looking at the so-called heroes of the universe.

A roundish, beige, flabby looking Green Lantern scoffed just at the mention of the trial. "Pshh we couldn't stand it anymore." Galius-Zed muttered, waving his hand as if he was mentally trying to will the hawkish woman away.

…Shayera wished she could bounce this tubby little alien and throw him into the nearest sun.

"Yeah, John is making the rest of us Green Lanterns look bad." A gruff voice concurred, which came from another of the Green Lanterns, Arkkis. This one had sharp canine teeth sticking out from his mouth with brown hair covering the top of his head while moving downwards to connect with a full beard that covered the bottom part of his face.

…Shayera wanted to see the look on his face when she broke those stupid sharp teeth.

"So much for the supposed loyalty of the Green Lantern corps, huh?" Hawkgirl mocked, shaking her head at the betrayals of John's supposed "friends."

The roundish Green Lantern rolled his eyes at the woman's ridicule. "Oh don't get so high and mighty, lady. If you're smart, you'll stay away from him too if you know what's good for you." He grumbled, pointing his thumb in the direction of the courtroom.

…Her eye twitched at the insults that were being barraged by John's own group.

"Otherwise, you'll end up winding up with his stench on you." Arkkis nodded in agreement, while taking a sip of his cold beverage.

…THAT'S IT!

Hawkgirl couldn't take it anymore of these insults. These insults that were coming from the mouths of the people that were supposed to be standing by their friend as he stood trial for a crime he could never commit. John was a good man…she hadn't known him long, but she knew that for a fact. And there was no way that he would do something so vile that his own faction of Green Guardians would ever abandon him. Which was why she finally raised her mace in the air and slammed it downwards onto the table that the Green Lantern group were currently sitting at; cracking the table slightly. "Cowards!" Hawkgirl yelled, raising her mace again and striking it down upon the wolfish Green Lantern. He quickly used the power of his ring to block the incoming attack and raised his hand to defend himself. The mace struck down onto his glowing arm and was able to defend him from any harm, while still blowing sparks of lighting from Hawkgirl's mace. Shayera swung again towards the two Green Lanterns that had insulted John and knocked them from their seats with her strength.

The rest of the Green Lantern group rose to defend their friends before a smallish, blue alien came running between them. "My friends, please! No weapons! No weapons!" He yelled, using his tentacles to separate the angry Hawkgirl from the rest of the Green Lanterns.

Hawkgirl scoffed as she heard the alien speak. "You think I need this mace to take any of you down?" She whispered, daring any of the others to just try and fight her. Shayera then swung her mace sideways, throwing it straight into a nearby pillar to emphasize how little she needed the mace to fight. Several other aliens jumped up in shock and moved to exit the cafeteria before the brawl got even messier. The same blue alien that was trying to break up the fight saw how futile his endeavors were and quickly made his way away from these monsters.

The roundish Green Lantern gritted his teeth angrily at the woman that had insulted him, which she simply replied with a "bring it on" motion of her index finger. A growl of anger sprung forth from the wolfish Green Lantern and ran towards Shayera with closed fists. He swung powerfully at the hawkish woman, but was unable to land a blow on her because of her skillful dodges. Hawkgirl quickly threw and uppercut at the man and collided it with his chin. Fists of anger pummeled straight into his gut repeatedly as he grunted in pain and surprise at seeing just how strong this woman was. The Green Lantern was then struck with a clean right hook along with another uppercut to the chin, causing him to fly upwards and fall down onto the table he and his comrades were eating on. Shayera blew onto her fist and readied herself for another bout any of the others. The rest of the Green Lanterns growled in anger at seeing their friend beaten so easily, while their leader, Kilowog; a pinkish, large alien that for some reason resembled a pig on steroids just calmly stared at her while he drank his beverage.

The roundish GL jumped forward in the hopes of overpowering her, but was simply batted away by Shayera before the rest of the Green Lantern group piled onto her. An orange, bird-like GL, Tomar-Re, jumped on top of her and slammed her onto the floor. Hawkgirl quickly shifted her feet to her stomach and launched the orange alien upwards, hitting the electric sign on top of the bar. Another GL, Larvox, who had four legs, orange hair, four tentacles for arms, and only one eye sprinted towards Shayera and tried his best to jump onto her, but was caught mid-air by her and thrown on top of the birdish GL behind the bar. A grunt of anger escaped from the round GL as he willed himself back onto his stubby feet. There was no way this mere woman could overpower the likes of the Green Lantern Corp! No way at all! He then jumped towards her with the speed of a jackrabbit, causing Hawkgirl to quickly duck down before he could collide with her. The wolf-like GL also ducked as he made his way to beat down on Hawkgirl, turning his head to see his own round comrade be caught like a basketball by their leader. Breathing a sigh of relief, the wolfish GL turned back in the direction of the woman who was making a mockery of him and his group…and received a strong punch to his face for his lack of awareness. As the pink leader of the Green Lanterns put the roundish of his friends down, the wolf-like of his friends crashed straight through the wall he was next to. Breathing a sigh of light annoyance, the leader looked around to see that that woman was still beating down on his friends without breaking a sweat. Not wanting anymore damage to be caused by this fight anymore, "ENOUGH!" He yelled to his comrades, having them stop in their tracks before they could attack Hawkgirl again.

"B-But, sir!" Galius-Zed yelled in disbelief.

"I said that's enough! Hawkgirl's right! John Stewart's one of us. If he can inspire several of his friends to still fight beside him, even with everything crashing down around him, then it's disgraceful that his own Corp could think less of him. I'm going to help him, if any of you wish to follow me, then come on!" Kilowog bellowed, stomping his way back to the trial.

Hawkgirl lightly smiled as she saw Kilowog fly back towards the trial and went to grab her mace from the dented pillar. As she turned back, she saw that she was the only one in the cafeteria. Glad as she was that John's Corp had fly back to support him, she still had a job to do. Flapping her wings and taking flight, Hawkgirl soared for not even one minute before she found just who she was looking for moments ago. But that someone wasn't alone…not only had she found Kanjar Ro, but she had found him with one of those Manhunters that kidnapped John. Gritting her teeth, she continued flying…

 _ **Back in the Courtroom**_

Wow…this was hilarious. Natsu was pinching the bridge of his nose while chuckling as he continued listening to the Flash ramble on. The guy had been talking for over 15 minutes without even stopping for a breath…thank goodness he never practiced that in the Watchtower. If he did, Natsu might have been tempted to superglue the guy's mouth shut. Nevertheless, it was quite impressive. "Have you asked yourself why this rush to judgement? If the ring wasn't lit, you must acquit! Furthermore-" The speedster continued, until he was silenced by one of the judges.

"Enough! You're just wasting time!" Voice #2 shouted.

"Ding-ding-ding! We have a winner! Looks like he caught ya stalling, pal." Natsu grinned cheekily.

"Who me?" The Flash responded with a grin of his own, faux innocence latent in his tone.

Suddenly, a loud voice boomed inside the courtroom; startling many of the people inside. "Out of my way!" Kilowog shouted, pushing the guard blocking John onto the ground. Widening his eyes in surprise, John stood shellshocked seeing what he thought was a former friend now stand and defend him in his time of need. What could have possibly changed his mind? Kilowog glanced slightly at John and gave an apologetic look before flying towards the judges.

"Now what?" Voice #3 questioned with an angry tone.

The dragon slayer instantly got an idea from this interruption and quickly used this to their advantage. "Why, it's our surprise witness…pink pig-guy…who's part of the Green Lanterns so he's obviously legit….obviously!" Natsu replied with a grin. "We've been saving him…for a moment like this. And, lo and behold, here he is to save the day!" He said, moving his floating podium and patted the pink Green Lantern.

"Don't touch me." Killowog growled.

"…Fair enough." Natsu replied, scooting his floating podium back. The Flash snickered slightly, but was cut off by a glare from Natsu.

"Surprise witness? He was nowhere near the crime. What kind of witness could he possibly be?" The alien prosecutor replied to the obvious lie.

The Flash looked at the hulking Green Lantern and responded, "A big scary one." Kilowog growled at being called that, scaring both the prosecutor and the Flash simultaneously. Seeing this, Natsu crossed his arms and gave a haughty smirk towards the shirking speedster. The Flash merely replied with a low grumble and turned away, causing the Salamander to revel in this victory.

"Surely this is a jest." The prosecutor asked with mild skepticism.

"Nope! Buddy, you're about to get your ass handed to you…by Law and Order: Justice League style!" Natsu yelled, receiving looks of confusion from this outburst. Scratching his head in embarrassment at actually hearing how stupid that sounded, he mumbled while shaking his head, "…Yeah, I heard it. It sounded a hell of a lot cooler in my head. Hehe…got a little too wrapped up in the moment."

 _ **A Moon in the Far Reaches of Space**_

While this was all happening, two people clad in spacesuits were currently scouring the moon where the supposed event that led to the imprisonment of John Stewart took place. Superman and J'onn had been looking for quite some time for anything that could exonerate their friend before he was put away for a crime he didn't commit. The two walked towards an open fissure that had left a major split on the moon. "See anything wrong with this picture?" Superman asked, staring down.

"Where do I start? The loss of life, the echoes of our own pasts." J'onn replied, looking upwards with a small hint of sadness; wondering just how far his home planet was from this place.

Superman could tell where his friend was heading and quickly tried to steer the subject back to the matter at hand. "No, not up there. Down here." Superman said, pointing downwards.

The Martian lowered his head at the fissure and finally took the time to really look around him and think. Here they were…on a moon that was supposedly near a planet that was destroyed. So, why? How…how was this moon still orbiting…unless- "It can't be!" J'onn yelled in shock.

"But it is. This moon is still orbiting a planet that doesn't exist." Superman responded.

"I-It should have flown off into space. The moment the planet was destroyed." J'onn said, still reeling from the shock of this revelation.

The Kryptonian turned toward his friend. "But it didn't, did it?" Superman replied.

Both the Kryptonian and the Martian looked at each other with similar looks; their minds thinking the same exact question…

Just who could have orchestrated this elaborate ruse with no one being the wiser…

 _ **Courtroom**_

Heavy steps echoed through the empty hallway leading toward the courtroom. The plan hadn't been going accordingly, but everything could be rectified. These stupid heroes hadn't beaten them yet. Not by a long shot. Crossing the doorsill of the hallway, one of the Manhunters then entered the courtroom and eyed one of his comrades. It immediately nodded and then went to its position.

"…and the Thorians would have gotten me to if it weren't for John Stewart. He saved my life, and risked his own to do it." Killowog immediately turned around to look at his friend and grinned. "That's the kind of guy he is." Hearing this, John lowered his head, and unbeknownst to anyone, held back tears to keep anyone from seeing.

"Thank you, Killowog. John couldn't have asked for a better character witness." The crimson speedster thanked Killowog, causing the pink Green Lantern to smile a bit. The Flash then turned to grin cheekily towards the prosecutor, "Your turn."

The prosecutor stared back at the Flash and moved his head towards Killowog. "Killowog, can you tell me exactly what a Green Lantern does?"

"Well, that's easy. We catch bad guys." Killowog stated proudly, beating his chest with a thump.

Grinning, the prosecutor continued, "Commendable. But how do you know who the bad guys are?"

The pink Green Lantern opened his mouth to answer, but couldn't really come up with a definitive answer. "How? Uh, I just know."

Natsu slapped his hand to his face and pieced together just what exactly the prosecutor was slowly getting at.

"Oh, so you're saying you use your obviously superior intellect to routinely sort out matters of life and death?" The prosecutor questioned.

Kilowog widened his eyes at hearing his explanation used against him. "I didn't say, I mean…"

Hopefully Killowog wouldn't agree to that. Otherwise, everything they had worked up to to defend John could potentially all go down the drain. Surely Killowog wouldn't…

"…well yeah kind of." Killowog agreed, nodding his head.

The Flash repeated the Salamander's facepalm as they heard Killowog agree to the prosecutor's obvious ploy.

"Aha! Then you and your Green Lanterns enforce these decisions with those incredibly deadly rings of yours!" The prosecutor cried out, pointing down towards the ring wrapped around Killowog's finger.

"Well, I guess you could put it that way." Killowog agreed.

' _Oh for fuck's sake, stop talking already!'_ Natsu thought to himself, biting his lip as he was helpless to watch this pink buffoon ruin everything that both him and the Flash had built up.

The Flash stared dismayingly at Killowog as he watched his entire new future flash before his eyes; being forced to wear horrid orange prisoner outfits, eating nothing but gruel for the rest of his life, and the worst…everything that every prisoner feared in all those prison movies he watched…dropping the soap! The speedster shuddered as he thought about these horrendous thoughts and wished that something would happen to stop all of this.

"Who said you could do this? Who gave you the right?" The prosecutor persisted, pushing his face closer in front of Killowog's own. He had them…finally he had these foolish idiots right where he wanted them. Soon, this case would be closed and another win would be written into his portfolio of victorious triumphs over the evils that plagued the galaxy.

Upon hammering the final nail in the coffin, a voice rang throughout the courtroom. "We did." Everyone jumped at the voice and turned around to see several strange, little old blue aliens with red tunics and the Green Lantern insignia emblazoned on their chests. John recognized who they were and turned away in shame as they entered the courtroom. Why couldn't everyone just live him to his own misery? To be damned to rot in a cell all by himself with his name dragged through the mud and his own tale to be used to scare small alien children on the darkest of nights. Any of that would be better than having to see everyone he knew see him in his most wretched moment.

' _God…somebody help me…'_

 _ **Back with Superman and J'onn**_

After investigating the moon, Superman began checking the area around the supposed "destroyed" planet in search of some way to clear John's name. "J'onn, I hope you're doing better than I am. All I see are craters." Sighing, Clark hoped that they both could find something that could free their friend before he was imprisoned for the rest of his life.

Thankfully, the Martian had indeed found something. Whether it was something helpful was a completely other thing. "Well, I have found something, but I'm not sure what." J'onn said, staring up at an enormous, gargantuan alien structure that was attached inside one of the moon's innermost crevices.

Hearing this, Superman speedily flew towards his friend and looked upon this mysterious structure with suspicion. "Any idea what this thing does?"

"When I was a child on Mars, we had small toys called illusitrons. They could project crude images over objects and even empty space." J'onn replied.

"And you think this is what? A larger version?" Superman asked.

J'onn nodded his head. "The engineering principles appear to be the same."

"So, it's an illusion." Clark alleged, shaking his head.

"It would explain why this moon's orbit has remained intact." J'onn concluded.

Superman continued staring at this titanic construction. Surely this must have taken a long time to build…but who would spend this amount of effort just to frame John? Suddenly, a blast of plasma struck J'onn from behind, sending him flying into a wall. Before he could respond, Superman felt another laser blast hit him as well, forcing him to crash into the same nearby wall as J'onn. A mysterious aircraft suddenly appeared and continued raining fire, shooting the wall adjacent to them. Piles of rocks tumbled down, narrowly missing the Martian and Kryptonian until dust from the collisions covered the area, masking whatever was below in a thick cloud of dust. The aircraft then exited the crevice and flew back into the dark reaches of space. "The secret will stay buried with them." Kanjar Ro cackled, grinning in his apparent triumph over the heroes. Suddenly, a laser blast caught him off guard and struck his ship. Kanjar Ro looked ahead to see…

"AHHHHHHHH!" Hawkgirl yelled, flying her own ship straight towards Kanjar's. Steering her ship to the right, she fired another shot underneath Kanjar's ship, causing even more damage to the hull of his ship. Shayera quickly turned the ship around and hailed even more laser beams onto the pirate's cruiser.

Beneath this space battle, the rubble that supposedly had crushed both Clark and J'onn suddenly began to rumble until finally a closed fist emerged from beneath the rubble. Rising upwards, Superman pushed himself out of the rubble and emerged without a scratch on him. Dusting himself off, he turned to see J'onn also emerging out of the rubble via his phasing power. "It appears this moon is filled with surprises." J'onn concluded from everything that he had witnessed since stepping foot on this barren celestial body. Sounds of shots fired stole his attention and they both looked to see two ships in the middle of an aerial battle.

Kanjar Ro had been trying to avoid the woman's blasts, but her aim was first-rate and every move he had in the book was all for naught. Nothing he could do allowed him to dodge any of her attacks! Looking back with a look of fear plastered on his face, he still saw her close on his tail. Hawkgirl continued chasing down the pirate's ship, looking down on her monitor to see her tracking shot try to line up with his ship until… "Gotcha." She grinned, pushing both red buttons on the sides of her steering wheel. Two tracking shots fired and made contact with the back of Kanjar's ship, causing him to spin out of control.

"Oh boy, there she goes again…" Superman sighed, seeing Hawkgirl's brash way of fighting cause another ship to spiral out of control. Once was enough. The Kryptonian then immediately flew upwards and sped speedily towards the spiraling ship before it crashed; killing whomever was inside. Ramming his body through the ship, Superman grabbed the pilot and exited the ship; narrowly avoiding the explosion that followed afterwards. He then slowly flew back down to where J'onn was and placed the pilot on the ground.

Soon after, Hawkgirl landed her ship next to the three and exited the ship. "I followed him here from Adjouris 5. I had to, uh, borrow one of their defense forces' fighters." She said, with a somewhat embarrassed look on her face.

"So, he's behind all of this?" Superman asked, gesturing towards Kanjar Ro.

"Not exactly. Now talk! Or I'll shove my mace so far up your-" Hawkgirl shouted towards the frightened alien smuggler.

"O-Ok! I'll talk, just keep HER away from me and I'll tell you anything you need to know." Kanjar Ro shrieked, scooting away from Hawkgirl.

"Hmm…good work." J'onn said, not at all surprised at seeing how frightened the alien was of Hawkgirl.

"Thanks." Hawkgirl smirked, flailing her mace.

 _ **Courtroom**_

"It's true that we Guardians control the Lantern Corps power source. But the individual Lanterns have complete autonomy." One of the Guardians spoke, a small bluish man with a receded hairline.

"So, if one of them does something wrong, it's not your fault." The prosecutor concluded from his statement.

The Guardian shook his head. "Uh, you misunderstand. We give them autonomy because we trust their experience and-"

"No other questions!" The prosecutor interrupted, satisfied with what the Guardian had given him. The Guardian gave no emotion as he stared at the prosecutor and willed the floating podium downwards towards the ground. "How much more must we hear? We demand an immediate judgement!"

"Oh fuck off, you piece of shit! This is a man's life that hangs in the balance here and you want an immediate judgement?! What the hell is wrong with you! What the hell is wrong with all of you?!" Natsu yelled, finally having enough.

"What are you doing, stop him!" John shouted to the Flash. The speedster tried to grab the Salamander before he could do anything, but was grabbed by Killowog.

"Let him speak." Killowog uttered, staring intently at the masked man that was defending his friend.

"This man, John Stewart, does not deserve any of this! Now, I barely know this guy, but I sure as hell know that he would never, EVER destroy a planet filled with the lives of innocent people. What I see here is not a court…it's a damn circus! What kind of sick people can honestly justify an IMMEDIATE judgement of a man's life?! All you people have is the testimony of one person…A FUCKING SMUGGLER NO LESS! And you have the gall…to ask for an immediate judgement?! From a man, who has no doubt put his life on the line for this galaxy countless times no doubt! I…there are no words to describe how vile…how disgusting that is. You should all be ashamed." The Salamander growled towards the court, forcing many of the crowd to murmur in discontent at what they had just heard.

"I mean…he is a hero."

"A Green Lantern saved my wife once."

"My kid looks up to the Green Lanterns."

"I wanted to be a Green Lantern when I grew up."

"Maybe…maybe he is innocent. That pirate didn't seem all that trustworthy."

"If he is innocent, then what happened to the planet?"

"I knew people on that planet!"

"Maybe the pirate did it or somethin'. All I know is Green Lanterns are heroes."

The prosecutor heard many murmurs echoed throughout the crowd and immediately tried to put a stop to it. "People! We can't forget what happened! Lives were lost! People are dead! And the only one who has the power to destroy an entire planet is the man standing before you! No one else could have been the culprit. I-"

"ENOUGH!" Voice #1 shouted, forcing silence throughout the room. "Having heard all the facts, we will now consider." It murmured, evaporating along with its colleagues from the screen.

Sighing, Natsu moved his floating podium towards John and the others. "…sorry about that. I just kinda….lost it up there." He muttered, rubbing his forehead before he let his anger take over him again. _'Blood…'_

"Hahahahaha! This one's got some fire in him! Don't apologize, boy! If you hadn't have screamed it from the top of your lungs, then I surely would have. You've picked two strong lads in your time of need, John. You'll need them in your future battles that's for sure." Killowog bellowed boisterously, patting the two on their shoulders.

' _What happened to no touching?'_ Both the Flash and the Salamander thought at the same time.

"Well, that's assuming we win. Sorry, John, we did everything we could." The speedster muttered despondently.

John continued staring forward. The world was fading all around him. To think…this would be his last memory of the outside world…being condemned like a common criminal. Having to watch as these two idiots tried to save him…those two…damn idiots. Why couldn't see that he wasn't worth saving? Why couldn't any of them? "I wish you two hadn't." John muttered, refusing to look at them for fear that they would see the absolute fear in his eyes.

Killowog noticed his friend's odd attitude and tried to alleviate some of the stress that must have been weighing on him. "Whatever happens John…you'll always be a Green Lantern…and my friend."

John refused to answer.

Suddenly, the three judges appeared back on the screen, obviously with their judgement. Tensions were high as people in the court leaned forward to hear just what exactly the verdict was. Would John the Green Lantern be clear of all charges or would him and his friends be sentenced to death?

"That was fast." The Flash mumbled.

"A fast sentence…that's never good." John muttered, staring straight ahead as he intended to face whatever consequence that came forth from this with his head held high.

"The facts are clear." Voice #1 stated. "John Stewart is guilty."

The entire courtroom went silent as they heard the verdict of the case. Even the lightest cough or the sound of a pen dropping would be akin to a volcano erupting inside this courtroom. The Flash stumbled back as he heard that his friend, and by association, him and the Salamander would be sentenced to a life behind bars…

Natsu sighed as he closed his eyes. Alone…again. _'Billy, I'm sorry.'_

John kept his face clear of all emotions as he stared ahead. There was nothing to cry about…nothing. Nothing…

Killowog just stared somberly at his friend as he slowly descended to the ground. "I'm sorry, John…"

"Would you like to make a statement before we pass sentence?" Voice #2 asked.

"No." John whispered, not wanting to hear anyone hear the croak in his voice as he answered.

"Very well. The sentence is termination…for you and your advocates." Voice #3 uttered.

It was over…all over. No more of this…damn it. It's not fair…none of this was fair…why.

Suddenly, an enormous giant dome emerged from the tar-like substance beneath them. As the dome emerged, it opened revealing an alien at the controls on top of a circular podium. Several aliens surrounded the three and pushed them on top of the podium. Neither Natsu or John fought the aliens as they jumped onto the inside of the dome. In contrast, the Flash tried to fight this unfair sentence before he and his friends lost their lives. "Whoa! Wait, I want an appeal!" He yelled, getting a jab of the alien's staffs in reply.

"Would you show some dignity for once in your life?" John growled at the speedster.

"This isn't right, we can't just stand here!" The Flash retorted.

"We have to! Think of the others like us. We all need to be held accountable. Everybody has to-" John shouted until he was interrupted.

"Face our consequences." Natsu mumbled somberly, every ounce of emotion drained from his face as he stared at the floor. They were going to kill him…they'd surely try, but…

The other two saw how the Salamander's behavior has drastically shifted from just moments ago. It partially unnerved them not seeing a smile or grin that was usually on the guy's face. John then nodded his head at what the Salamander had said, "Exactly. We have to face our consequences. We have too much power not to."

The dome then began to slowly close upon them; the light slowly disappearing from their vision as darkness enveloped the inside of the dome. "Take a look, boys, this will be our last sight of daylight for the rest of our lives." John said, taking it all in before the doors shut.

The Flash depressingly raised his head to catch a glimpse of the light before he faced the rest of his life in a cell until their termination.

However, Natsu refused to raise his head as he continued to stare into the darkness that enveloped the room. _'It's ok. It's ok…you're used to this. Isolation…darkness…it's like an old friend_ _greeting me home. Alone…again. Sorry, Billy…I'm sorry.'_

Finally, the dome closed itself around them, sealing them, and their fate, inside. Vents inside the dome opened, spewing a mysterious gas inside which quickly flooded the dome. John and the Flash began coughing from the gas and kneeled onto the floor, nearly collapsing to the floor. However, unbeknownst to the other two, Natsu was the only one breathing fine from all the poisonous gas. _**'No point…let them die. They'd die anyways…in the end.'**_

' _But…_

' _ **Die…let them die.'**_

' _N-no…don't want…I don't want…stop…stop!'_

Images surged inside Natsu's mind….

… _Cradled in my arms_

' _ **Blood…blood…blood.'**_

' _No! No blood! Stop! I don't want!'_

… _couldn't stop him_

' _ **BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD!'**_

' _STOP!'_

 _Smiling people…tombstones_

' _ **DEAD! BLOOD! BLOOOOOOOOOD!'**_

' _Promise me, Natsu…promise me_

 _...I'm so sorry…please forgive me_

' _BLOOD! WHY WAS THERE SO MUCH BLOOD!'_

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Natsu screamed, running towards the wall and bashing his hands against it, cracking the wall with his superior strength.

Outside the dome, people were in shock at hearing screaming from inside and covered their ears from sounded like a demonic roar. The ground felt like it was rumbling with every pound they heard from the inside of the dome. "W-what's happening?!" The prosecutor yelled in shock.

"I-I don't know! Something inside is…is breaking through!" The alien in charge of the controls shouted back. But…it was impossible. The meatal inside there was far more powerful than any human or humanoid could break…but yet

"AHHH AHHH AHH AHH AHHHHHHHH!" Roars were heard more clearly as the wall was almost collapsed.

"Quick, shut of the gas before it's released into the courtroom!" Voice #1 bellowed, causing the alien in charge of the controls to shut of the vents before it contaminated the atmosphere.

Finally, the gas slowly stopped emitting into the dome, but Natsu refused to relent until he finally crashed the wall to the ground and fell to his knees. Small flows of gas came streaming out of the dome, but not enough for it to effectively poison anyone. Natsu quickly gripped his head and began muttering to himself before he could continue anymore. The Flash and John slowly came tumbling out of the dome and were surprised by Superman and J'onn, suddenly, charging into the courtroom from the glass ceiling. They saw that they had Kanjar Ro with them, but were ultimately concerned with their friend kneeling on the ground. The Flash rushed over to him to hear him whispering what seemed like incoherent ramblings, but seemed to catch snippets of words like, Billy, promise, nakama, and something about fairies. The Salamander's hyperventilating slowly came to a stop finally and he turned his head to see the Flash looking at him with a surprised look on his face. "Dude, are you ok?" He asked, concern evident in his tone.

He was ok…and so was John. Good…they weren't dead. No one was…good. "Y-Yeah, I just…don't like it when someone tries to kill me before I've had my last meal haha." Natsu lightly chuckled.

The speedster blew out a breath as he saw the Salamander return to normal. "Phew, without a smile on your face, you kind of were freaking me out."

"I-Impossible. How could…why…you should all be dead! You're all guilty!" The prosecutor shouted, still shocked to see how could a mere human could have broken out of that dome with poisonous gas inside no less!

Using his heat vision to break John out of the cuffs, Superman turned around to yell, "They're not guilty! And we can prove it!" Touching his earpiece, he whispered, "That's your cue, Hawkgirl. Hope you can hear me."

 _ **Back in Space**_

Staring at the large structure that had been putting up an illusion, Hawkgirl replied, "Loud and clear." She then proceeded to charge at the building with her mace and threw it straight at it, causing it to explode with numerous explosions. After it's destruction, the fake asteroids that it had created then dissipated and revealed a large blue planet.

"Bingo." Hawkgirl smiled.

 _ **Courtroom**_

The courtroom then exploded with murmurs as everyone saw the planet that John had supposedly destroyed come back perfectly fine out of thin air. "Adjouris 4 was never destroyed. It's right where it always was. It was all an illusion. A frame-up, as they say on my planet." Superman told the judges, hoping that they would finally come to their senses that John was innocent.

John couldn't believe it…he was innocent. He hadn't really killed all of those people…but then, who could have possibly framed…suddenly he saw that same little pink alien that he had been trying to capture that fateful day. "YOU!" John screamed, sprinting towards the alien smuggler and jumped on top of him. Grabbing ahold of Kanjar's shirt, John pulled him closer, "Why did you do this to me?! Why!"

"For…for money." Kanjar replied.

"Whose money!" John screamed back.

"The…the Manhunters." Kanjar murmured.

Superman then saw that the Guardians of Oa were exiting the courtroom and gestured the others to follow him. "Come on!" He yelled, causing both him and J'onn to fly off towards them.

"You gonna be ok?" The Flash asked Natsu.

Breathing heavily, Natsu replied, "Y-Yeah. I'll be fine. I'm gonna follow 'em. Just make sure that John doesn't kill the only witness that can corroborate that story about the Manhunters being evil, ok?"

"Aha! Thinking like a true lawyer! I like it!" The Flash joked and sprinted off towards John.

Natsu cracked a small grin as he finally came to his senses and realized that the Flash and G.L. were ok now. Realizing what he was feeling, he shook his head and shoved those feelings down before they could grow anymore. _'Not my friends. No friends…you know what happens.'_ Shaking his head, Natsu sprinted off towards where Superman and J'onn had flown off too. He then felt a breeze shoot past him as he saw a reddish figure sprint past him. The guy was fast…

The Flash quickly sprinted past everybody and made his way to the Guardians before they escaped. He then stopped right ahead of them before they exited the building, "Not so fast."

The Guardians ignored him and simply walked past him until Superman appeared before them. "What's going on?" Superman questioned.

"We don't have time for this." One of the Guardians responded, making their way past Superman until they were once again stopped, but this time by John.

"Where are the Manhunters?" John asked.

"Headed back to Oa." The Guardian replied.

"'Back to Oa?' You mean they've been there before?" John demanded.

"Yes, we created them there." The Guardian responded.

"Wait, you mean you're responsible for those Terminator death machines. That's…pretty dumb." The Flash muttered.

"It was before the Lantern Corps. We though robots would make good peacekeepers, but they were flawed. They couldn't understand the subtle gradations between good and evil." The Guardian replied.

"Why didn't you decommission them?" Superman asked.

"We reprogrammed them for lesser duties: tracking, hunting, guarding. They didn't seem to object." The Guardian said.

"Not out loud anyway." John told them with an angry look on his face.

"Well, maybe you should have taught them about those concepts of good and evil. Not just pushed them onto other things that YOU didn't program them to do. Maybe then you wouldn't be in this mess. You can't expect your creation to just know these things. It's up to the creator to teach otherwise their creations will just have to teach themselves. …and sometimes that doesn't work out for everybody." Natsu growled, thinking about a certain dark-haired mage.

"We have to go to Oa. Otherwise-" John said before he was interrupted.

"I know. Let's go." The Guardian replied.

 _ **Oa**_

"Hurry, the Guardians can't hold out in there forever! We just have t-" One of the Manhunters yelled before it heard something in the distance. It turned around to see John Stewart along with those troublesome heroes and the rest of the Guardians traveling inside the Green Lantern's green bubble that he must have created. "They can't stop us, brothers! No one can!"

Suddenly, Superman flew out of the large bubble and collided with numerous of the Manhunters, causing them to explode upon impact. Akin to this, the Flash was speeding around the battlefield knocking out the Manhunters that he would come across. Three Manhunters then stopped him with their staffs held out at him ready to strike. Several other Manhunters surrounded him from behind, but were sliced in half by a green ray. "Got your back." Green Lantern said. The speedster gave him a salute and turned in front of him to then see the other Manhunters get thrown to the floor via flaming fist by the Salamander. One of the Manhunters swung their staff at him, but Natsu quickly side-stepped it and swung his legs underneath it, " **Fire Dragon's Spinning Claw!"** which was then followed up by Natsu pushing himself off of the ground and pushing his feet together to ram against the other of the Manhunters, " **Fire Dragon's Iron Fang!"** causing the Manhunter to collide with the wall adjacent to it. "Great that means I got Flash's front…just great." The Salamander mumbled with a grin and ran off. The Flash grinned at seeing everybody being back to their old selves and raced off to find other enemies to kick their iron butts.

Superman continued avoiding numerous of the Manhunters. Behind him, one of the Manhunters raised their staff and struck it against the Kryptonian's back. Eliciting a cry of pain, Superman turned around and blasted the Manhunter with his heat vision, along with several of the other Manhunters in the vicinity. Speeding along, he continued ramming himself on top of the other Manhunters, breaking them all easily under his superior strength. He then blocked an incoming blow by another staff and broke it in half before chucking it back at the Manhunter and closed his fists together to strike the Manhunter down on its head, forcing to fall down towards the ground. The Krytonian then clashed with another of the Manhunters; both of them grappling for the ownership of the staff. Thanks to Superman's strength, he easily won that grappling and stole the staff while proceeding to whale it onto the Manhunter until it fell unconscious from the barrages. Taking a sigh of relief, he turned around to see several other Manhunters flying towards him. "Oh boy…well, I don't call it the never-ending battle for nothing." He said to himself, while simultaneously charging at the Manhunters.

Seeing just easily they were being beaten, the lead Manhunter yelled to one of its comrades. "Use the gun! The gun!"

Across the battlefield, a large satellite-like dish was then turned towards the several heroes and was then fired. Hearing the gun go off, John quickly turned around and created a large, green sphere that enveloped his friends before the laser beam hit; causing a humongous explosion to take place. As the smoke cleared, an enormous crater was spread around where John and the others were protected by the large shield. "Phew…well that would have been bad." Natsu said to himself.

"That's putting it mildly." John replied.

"There are several on the roof." J'onn pointed out, seeing a row of Manhunters readying their weapons.

"I see them." Superman said.

"Oooo man that looks like a lot…say why don't we make this fun? Whomever beats the least amount of Manhunters has Watchtower duty today." The Flash grinned.

"This isn't a game-" John growled.

"Sounds fun to me. I'm in." Natsu chuckled.

"Ok, me too. What about you, J'onn?" Superman asked the Martian.

"I see no point to the game. Watchtower duty should be a reward instead of a penalty…but I won't lose." J'onn replied with what looked like a very microscopic smile if one looked closely.

"Well, that leaves you out, Johnny boy. What do you say? Unless…you'd like to heave Watchtower duty hmm? I think the next person that's supposed to help is Batman." The speedster smiled at seeing John's face at that piece of information.

"…There's no way in hell I'm going through that pain again." John muttered, shooting off into the sky along with Superman and J'onn.

Igniting his feet to push him up into the air, "Aww poor Flash. You're the only one that can't fly. Well, maybe Batman can teach you to at least learn how to glide like he does!" Natsu laughed to himself.

"Yeah, well…at least I don't have any ketchup stains on my scarf." The speedster said cheekily.

Natsu widened his eyes at hearing that. "Wait what! No, no I washed this thing two days ago. There's no way I could've-" A large gust of wind pushed him slightly aback ash he finished checking his scarf. Slowly turning around, Natsu saw that the Flash had indeed tricked him and was currently zooming towards the Manhunters. "Well…you have no one, but to blame for yourself Natsu. Fuckin' damn it!" He growled, using his feet to burst himself towards the Manhunters.

Unfortunately, the others had already had a huge head start. J'onn easily phased past the laser bullets that they were shooting at him and smashed his fist against one of the Manhunter's faces, effectively knocking it out. Narrowly dodging a swing of another of the Manhunter's staff, he transformed into a serpent and wrapped itself around the forearm of the Manhunter and pulled its staff towards its own chest, electrocuting it and having it pass out on the ground. Shapeshifting back, he phased through the floor and uppercutted two other distracted Manhunters and threw them off of the roof of the building. Meanwhile, the Flash was easily sidestepping any of the laser shots that were fires at him. Seeing this, J'onn made his way towards the large gun and phased through it. He then saw one of the Manhunters shooting at his friend and shoved his phased hand into its head and tore out its brain. The Flash then zoomed upwards on top of the building, but was hit by a piece of falling debris and fell backwards onto the building. More shots were being fired at him, but luckily for him, they were quickly deflected by John's green shield. Unfortunately, it was slowly being chipped way by the gunshots. Sweat pouring down his face, John tried with all his might and concentration to keep it up. Otherwise…no he wouldn't lose. No way!

Suddenly, several green beams struck those Manhunters, effectively destroying them. Surprised, John turned around to see Hawkgirl and the rest of the Green Lanterns flying towards them to aid them. "You three take the North Tower. Killowog and I will take the South." Galius-Zed said, him and Killowg turning towards the South tower.

"AWWWW! You stupid green gloryhogs! Those Manhunters were mine!" Natsu shouted angrily, still only having two other Manhunters he had under his belt.

"Too little, too late! Hahahaha!" Killowog bellowed as he shot a green ray beam, slicing several of the Manhunters in half while Galius-Zed deflected any incoming shots towards him. He then aimed his ring towards the highest point of the tower and sliced it open.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Hawkgirl screamed as she slammed her mace upon the North Tower, causing it to explode in a fiery explosion and, in the process, destroyed numerous Manhunters.

Inside the Main Tower, the lead Manhunter slowly descended as he saw the rest of the Guardians were collapsing from lack strength. He then raised his staff and sliced open the green shield the Guardians had concocted to protect themselves. Moving past them, he blasted open the door that led to the giant Green Lantern that the Guardians had control of. John, seeing that the giant Green Lantern was vulnerable, quickly flew inside to protect it before any of the Manhunters got inside. He quickly flew inside and slowly descended into the room, unbeknownst to him, the main Manhunter was hiding behind him and immediately blasted him from behind. John shouted in pain as he was shot in the back and collapsed to the ground. Forcing himself up, John raised his ring to stop the Manhunter. "Manhunter, stop!" He yelled, firing his ring to envelop the Manhunter inside a green ball.

"Not till we regain what is rightfully ours." The Manhunter replied angrily.

"Yours?" John asked.

"The power that the Guardians stole from us!" The Manhunter yelled, slamming his staff onto the sphere, effectively evaporating it and fired several shots at John. He quickly avoided them by flying into the air and made his way to loop around the Manhunter before he could fire again. The Manhunter then turned around to meet him in the air and they both rammed against each other. Green and blue energy smashed against the other, creating two waves of energy that flowed from the other.

"It was never yours! It was always the Guardians'!" John shouted, trying to push back the Manhunter's staff with his ring; the green energy slowly pushing the blue energy back.

"And they betrayed us! Just as they betrayed you!" The Manhunter yelled back, his staff edging deeper and deeper towards John; the blue energy penetrating the green energy until his sstaff finally rammed straight into John's gut. "This power is our destiny." The Manhunter growled, throwing John into a wall, forcing him to crash into it roughly and causing him to thud onto the ground. The Manhunter then floated towards into the giant Green Lantern; slowly being enveloped inside of the green, flowing energy.

John slowly willed himself upwards and widened his eyes at seeing the Manhunter be enveloped inside of the energy. "No!" He shouted, seeing the Manhunter scream in pain as the green energy flow into him. Sparks of lighting exuded from the giant Green Lantern striking everyone within distance, including John. Thanks to the energy, the Manhunter broke through its red shell and grew a greenish-black shell over his new body. The Guardians then rushed into the room and exclaimed in shock at seeing the Manhunter absorb the Lantern's energy.

"Ahhhhhh! Now, I am the power!" The Manhunter screamed, growing three times his normal size and shot upwards to stand on top of the building. John then groaned as he felt his own power be sapped from his ring and saw it flow into the giant Manhunter. He then turned around to see the Guardian's own power being sapped away and them falling to the floor. John quickly caught one of the before he hit the floor and cradled him in his arms.

"All is lost." The Guardian whispered before falling unconscious.

Gritting his teeth, John growled, "Not while I'm standing." Turning around, John slowly walked towards the large Green Lantern and raised his ring upwards, pointing it towards it. "In brightest day, in blackest night no evil shall escape my sight." Suddenly the giant, green Mahunter began melting and flow back downwards towards the Lantern. "Let those who worship evil's might…beware my power Green Lantern's light!" He shouted, pointing his ring upwards and fired an enormous green beam towards the Lantern, causing the Manhunter to scream in pain as he slowly disappeared. As the giant ray beam fired into the sky, fireworks sparked from it, lighting up Oa with a victorious light.

A green light shone upon everyone's faces as they watched this miraculous display. "Ok, say what you will about the guy…but he has got one of the most badass of mantras!" Natsu shouted, basking in the glow of victory and fireworks. His eye then caught wind if another of the Manhunters and ignited his palm to throw a fireball at it, but was beat by a heat vision lobotomy by Superman. "OH YOU SON OF A….Come on! He was mine!" The Salamander screamed in anger.

Inside of the building, the Guardians slowly felt their power enter their bodies again and made their way towards John. "We chose wisely when we offered you the ring. Thank you, John Stewart." The Guardian said, bowing towards their savior.

Outside of the building, there laid numerous body parts of the Manhunters that once defended the galaxy. Upon their corpses, the Green Lanterns were giving credit where it was due towards a certain hawk-themed hero. "You're some fighter, lady." Galius-Zed congratulated Hawkgirl.

"But we already knew that, right?" Arkkis mumbled, rubbing his jaw at the thought at that past fight.

Hawkgirl smiled as she was congratulated and then saw John making his way towards the group. Seeing this, the Green Lanterns made their way towards their friend. "John, good work." Kilowog said, patting John on the back.

"I guess we were wrong about you, John. We should have known better." Galius-Zed apologized.

John stared at them all, remembering how they had easily disowned without even hearing his side of the story. "Yeah, you should have." John replied, stomping past them. As he passed the Green Lanterns, he slowly made his way towards his…friends. These people hadn't easily disowned him. No, they had stood with him in his time of need, even when he specifically asked them not too.

"Are you all right, John?" J'onn asked with concern.

"You believed in me even when I didn't believe in myself." John said, shocked to see how loyal his friends were.

"Hey, what are friends for?" The Flash smiled, patting his shoulder while John returned the smile.

"Yeah, well all's well that ends well and all that jazzy goodness. Can we go home now? All the work we've done today has really tuckered me out." Natsu said with a yawn.

"Hehe yeah all right, you lazy bum. And thanks to you too. You didn't have to stand up for me like you did. Thank you." John said gratefully.

"Hehe….uh yeah no problem. What are…acquaintances for?" Natsu said with a mild shrug.

"Awww he doesn't wanna admit that we're friends. How cute!" The Flash chuckled.

"Hey, watch it! I'm still mad at you for that stupid ketchup trick you did one me!" Natsu yelled.

"Oh yeah! That's right…which reminds me. Guess who got the least Manhunters: SALAMANDER! Hawkgirl, can you please tell him what he's won?" The Flash shouted, pointing at Hawkgirl.

"…I have no idea what any of you are talking about." Hawkgirl deadpanned.

"Oh shoot, that's right! You weren't with us. Well, Supes, you mind?" The speedster grinned.

"Not at all. It appears that our friendly Salamander has just won…Watchtower duty! Let's give him a big round of applause, shall we?" Superman chuckled, clapping his hands as the others joined in.

"H-hey, wait! Hawkgirl wasn't here, s-so that means she _technically_ lost, right?" The fire mage said in the hopes that somebody would agree with him.

"Hmm…what do you guy's think? No? Or hell no?" The crimson speedster asked.

"No."

"Hell no."

"No."

"Hell no."

"And a hell no from me! So that makes that two no's and three hell no's! So…hell no, Salamander!" The Flash yelled, raising his hands up in the air.

"…I hate you guys." The Salamander deadpanned.

The others quickly joined in a range of mild chuckles to laughs at hearing that. "Haha alright, let's go home." John said, using his ring to envelop the others inside a green sphere and launched them into space and back to their home.

 _ **Watchtower**_

After a long trip from space, the others finally arrived back to the Watchtower where they were greeted by a certain Amazonian princess to the surprise of many. "Diana? What are you doing here?" Superman asked.

"Hmm? I'm here because it's my turn for Watchtower duty." Diana replied like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"What?! Oh no…if I had known it was with you, I would have lost on purpose. W-wait rock-paper-scissors! Right here, right now. Whomever loses stays here with the princess!" The Flash yelled. He had to win…he had struck out today with Hawkgirl, but here he had a chance to woo the Amazonian princess now!

"I'm surprised you didn't say winner. That's a little mean, don't you think?" Hawkgirl teased, knowing exactly what the speedster was trying to do.

"Uhh, fine. Winner gets to stay here then! Ok ready, 1…2…3…go!" The Flash shouted, choosing scissors.

At the same time, Natsu had chosen rock as his choice.

"NOOOOOO! Ok, best two out of three." The speedster begged.

"Dude, I don't care. If you want to…" Before he could finish, the Flash was already counting down. Sighing, he waited until the Flash was done and immediately chose rock again. Sadly, the Flash had once again chosen scissors.

"Oh COME ON! Why did you choose rock again?!" The Flash yelled in anger.

"Well, why did you choose scissors again? Come on, everyone knows the old saying, 'Good ol' rock, nothing beats that!'" Natsu chuckled at remembering where he had heard that.

"WHAT?! That doesn't even ma-" The Flash was suddenly cut off by Hawkgirl pulling his mask towards out of the room.

"Come on, loverboy. You lost fair and square. I'm sure you'll have another chance to woo another girl tonight." Hawkgirl mumbled.

John yawned as he followed those two. "Alright, I'm gonna hit the hay here if that's no problem. I've had a long day."

"Well, what happened?" Diana asked with concern.

"Ask Salamander. I'm going to bed." The Green Lantern yawned as he walked out of the room.

"I wish you two the best of luck in your endeavors. Good night." J'onn said and then departed from the room.

"Good night, J'onn!" Wonder Woman yelled.

"Night…" Natsu yawned. _'Oh great…now I'm tired. Thanks a lot, John…'_

Superman checked the controls before he said good night, which left both Wonder Woman and Salamander the only two conscious people in the tower. Silence ensued as the two awkwardly stared at each other. "Pshh…well, I don't know about you, but I'm beat. So, I'm just gonna take a seat over by the monitor." Natsu muttered, pulling a chair towards the monitor and sat on it.

Wonder Woman just stared at him as he did just that. Narrowing her eyes a bit, she took a deep breath and proceeded to grab her own chair and put it beside his. Natsu moved his head lightly to see the princess sitting him beside him and rolled his eyes. He was hoping that she would just do her own thing while he tried to catch a few Z's, but that was now impossible. Crossing his arms across his chest, he stared at the monitor and hoped that she would just get bored and find something else to do. Tapping the side of her chair, Diana tried to think of what she could possibly talk about with this man. She had only been in man's world a short time, but she had seen things that awed her. Perhaps that would be a good topic. "You know what I find most intriguing about man's world, the food. Honestly, it perplexes me how much food you have all concocted. I mean, I see both men and women often enjoying this strange cold treat that lies on top of a cone. Oh…what is it called? Ice…Iced….Ice…"

"Ice Cream?" Natsu finished.

Diana clapped her hands as she finally heard what was on the tip of her tongue. "Yes, that's it! Oh the different types of flavors I've seen. It's wonderful. Not to mention just what kinds of combinations you can swirl together. Just yesterday, I-"

"You don't have to do this." The fire mage muttered.

"Do what?" Diana asked.

"This….the small talk. I'm fine with the silence. I'm used to it and I don't need it to be filled if there is no point. So, as fun as that story sounds, I prefer if you just keep it to yourself." The Salamander said, closing his eyes as he leans back in his chair to get more comfortable.

Diana's eye lightly twitched at this man's insolence at her kindness. Normally, she would have quickly made it known that she deserved respect and if she wanted to make small talk, then she damn well could if she wanted to! But…she made a promise.

 _ **Watchtower (A week ago)**_

 _After the formation of the Justice League, the others, besides Batman, had stayed to ask how various things would work for the group. Most were eager to help this ambitious and heroic plan…others though…_

" _Alright, now that we're all part of a group, we can leave right?" Natsu asked imptatienly, still on no hours of sleep and plenty pissed about it._

 _Superman nodded, ignorant to the man's impatience. "Yes, and I look forward to work with all of you in the future."_

 _However, some weren't too ignorant, like Diana, and took a little offense to the man's impatience and initial refusal to help in this heroic task of helping the world._

 _Natsu waved his hand dismissively as he heard that. "Yeah, yeah sounds good. Say, where are those iced mochas at?"_

 _The Flash slurped the last of his quickly and opened his mouth to answer, but quickly grabbed the side of his head. "AGH! Brain freeze! Hrgh…just one floor down. The first door to your right."_

" _Thanks. Hey, Senor Captain, you want anything?" Natsu asked._

" _I said my name is Captain Marvel! And YES PLEASE!" Captain Marvel grinned. The Salamander gave him a thumbs up before he left and departed from the room. After conversing for a little bit more, the rest of the group began to leave, but were stopped by Captain Marvel.  
"W-wait!" He yelled, causing the others to stop in their tracks. "S-Sorry, I j-just wanted to ask for a favor from you all."_

" _That's alright. Since we'll all be working together from now on, it's quite alright to ask for any assistance you need." Superman said._

" _Yeah, shoot, big guy!" The Flash added._

" _Oh thank you! Thank you so much! I knew you people were heroes! I-I just wanted to ask you…to help my friend! Please!" Captain Marvel said, lightly bowing to the group._

" _What do you mean by help?" Superman asked, confused as to what he was asking._

" _I mean…I know that my friend is a little…rough around the edges." Captain Marvel muttered._

" _I'll say." Diana concurred with a murmur._

" _Diana, please. Go on, Mr. Marvel." Superman gestured towards Captain Marvel._

" _T-Thank you. Like I said, he's a little rough, but I swear, deep down he's one of the nicest people in the world! And I know he wants to help people. I've seen it before! He just needs to be around people that want to help people too! That's why I need your help, to bring out his inner hero! I know he's in there somewhere…I just can't do it alone. I just know heroes like you will help him, like you do everyone else! So please, I'm asking you to be his friend and show him just how amazing it is to be a hero!" Captain Marvel beamed at the heroes._

 _The Flash grinned as he heard the various compliments coming from him and rubbed his head bashfully. "Well, when you put it that way, then how can we say no? Besides, he doesn't seem all bad. He seems like a pretty cool guy I can swap jokes with. I'm in!"_

 _Captain Marvel jumped up at hearing that. "Oh thank you so much! You have no idea what that means to me! And the rest of you?"_

 _Superman nodded his head. "Of course. Any person I can help just leads to making our world a better place. I'd be honored."_

" _I do not know this man…but I will do anything in my power to aid him if he so wishes." J'onn agreed._

" _Well, as long as he doesn't get us or anyone else into too much trouble, then I don't see why not." John consented._

" _Well…he doesn't seem all bad. He kid's got some spunk to him, so why not?" Hawkgirl nodded._

 _Diana stayed silent as she thought about the somewhat crude man. Surely he wasn't all bad…he had helped them save the world. And Captain Marvel speaks well of him too. She looked up to see him smiling at him, causing her to smile too. His infectious demeanor was quite…well infectious. While the Salamander's manner of doing things and saying things were quite crude… surely helping this man would be the ultimate test to see if she was truly capable of uniting man's world with Themyscaria. "Ok, I agree."_

 _ **Present Time**_

She had made a promise…to help this man find his way into the light. Obviously, it would be a tough fight, but the Amazonian princess was up to the challenge. Nothing had stood in her way before and not even this man's irritable attitude would derail her. She would break through his tough skin and who knows what kind of relationship would spring forth from the two of them? Therefore, she wouldn't give up until this man was basking in the light of a hero and willing to open up to his friends. So, she just stayed right beside him, until he was finally ready to talk.

Moments passed, and still no talking.

Surely he would need to talk sooner or later.

Still no talking…

Not a whisper? Couldn't he give her something?

Nothing…

Grr….this was getting irritating.

Silence….

Ok, if he didn't talk in three seconds…

3…

2…

1…

Finally, as she reached her breaking point, Wonder Woman opened her mouth to give this man the yelling of a lifetime until…

"Chocolate." He mumbled.

What? "E-Excuse me?" Diana asked, perplexed.

"That's my favorite flavor, chocolate. I know you didn't really ask, but you looked like you were about to blow a gasket or something it I didn't talk. I've also seen you fight and I don't really want to be on the receiving end on it. Plus, I learned a long time ago that when a woman wants something, then she's gonna get it one way or another. " Natsu mildly chuckled.

Diana continued staring at him and just nodded. "Good. I-I mean, it's good that you want to talk to me. I mean, that you want to talk in general. Your friend told me you're not really the talkative type."

Natsu smiled as Billy immediately came to his mind. "Yeah…he's a softie. The big lug cares a little too much about me, but…the feelings mutual."

"That's sweet. I can tell that your friendship between the two of you is very strong. It reminds me of my bonds with my sisters back in Themyscira." Wonder Woman smiled as she remembered all her sisters back on her homeland. She missed them deeply…

Natsu could tell that this topic was a difficult one for her and quickly made way to steer away from it. "So…do you have a favorite kind of ice cream?" He asked, inwardly berating himself at how dumb that question was.

"I actually have never tasted it before. Every time I try, I either get called away on business or I end up taking too much time looking at all the flavors until the place closes." Wonder Woman said somewhat embarrassingly.

Natsu imagined the Amazonian princess standing in front the counter and just staring at all the flavors until the manager tried to explain to her that the place was closing. "Hahahahhaha oh that is just so sad…in a funny way of course."

Diana crossed her arms across her chest. "It's not that funny you know. I've only been here in Man's world for a short time…and it is so drastically different then my own. I don't know how you can possibly understand all of this."

' _Believe me…it wasn't easy.'_ "Yeah…it takes some getting used to, I'll admit. But you'll get the hang of it I'm sure."

"Well, in case I have any problems in the future, could you…perhaps assist me?" Diana asked, using this as a chance to help this man open up.

Natsu was a bit taken aback by her forwardness. No…he was getting to close. He knew what would happen if he got too close. He…had to say no. No…no…no

' _Promise me, Natsu…promise me'_

Damn it….damn it! "Uh, y-yeah sure. If you need some help with…say haha whatever ice cream you wanna eat, then I'm your guy." Damn it…

"Splendid! I'm thankful for this. Who knows, maybe I'll show you a thing or to as well? Like how to fight…" She mumbled.

"Whoa whoa, back up there! I know how to fight!" Natsu argued.

"Hmm? Is that how they fight in Man's world? My how sad." Diana said cheekily.

"Oho you're a cheeky one. And here I thought we were so close to…" Natsu stopped himself before he could finish that sentence. "Bottom line, I can fight! Maybe we can spar one of these days. I'll show ya how they fight where I come from."

"Oh? And where is that?" Diana asked.

Damn it…this is what happens when he didn't have his guard up. This woman…somehow she knew how to slip right through his defenses. How…he couldn't answer, but she was beautiful…crafty one. Crafty…damn it. "Where I come from…is far away from here. Kinda like Themyscara I guess. That's all I can say."

Diana could tell that he didn't wish to talk about the subject anymore. If she pushed anymore, she could lose all the progress she made so far. "I see. Well, I bet it's a lovely place."

Natsu looked at her and saw there wasn't an ounce of sarcasm in her voice. Why would there be? Man, he was growing too cynical for his own good. His eyes traveled to look at the planet he was now responsible for. How it looked so similar to Earthland…it was honestly spooky. But just looking at this planet, Earth, the people called it. It just reminded him of…everything. Everyone… _'Yeah…it was.'_

 **AAAAAAAAAAAND THAT'S A WRAP! Holy hell….this took a hell of a long time. It seriously did! I was trying to make this a short chapter, but I wanted to add some original dialogue in this chapter because Natsu has changed some things by entering this universe…so yeah. I just wanna say thank you for all the support I'm getting. It honestly means a lot to me because it inspires me to write more. Now, I'm probably going to have to start writing smaller chapters of my stories because I am hella busy with school, work, and other stuff. I'm really sorry about that, but I'd rather give you small chapters then no chapters at all.**

 **I also want to add this. Now, some people are not really thrilled with the whole…harem deal. And I can see why, but let me tell you why I want to do this. It's for one simple reason…this shit is not gonna happen anywhere else. I mean, DC is not gonna make a comic about a character attracting numerous women in the DC universe. It's obvious why…because it's not plausible. But you know where it is plausible? Fanfiction. I mean, it's in the title FAN-FICTION. I'm a fan of DC and Fairy Tail and I wanted to write a Fictional story revolving around the two properties. All I'm asking for is one thing, Suspension of Disbelief. If you do not know what that is, it's basically what you usually do when you watch or see Superman. A man who can fly…shoot laser beams out of his eyes…can speed around the planet and probably turn back time in the process (or at least according to Richard Donner's interpretation of the character) but I digress. When you see Superman, your first though isn't that it's all fake, even though no man can fly or turn back time. No, you enjoy the comics or the movies because it's an escape from reality and into a world where people can fly or shoot fire or run at the speed of sound. It's fun. So, that's all I'm asking. I know this will never happen to anyone in real life, but this isn't real life. It's Fanfiction.**

 **Anyways, I hope everyone continues to enjoy my story and support me. So, if you enjoyed, then please favorite/follow/REVIEW! Because it makes me happy and more eager to write when I read positive reviews.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again! Sorry it's taken me so long to put up another chapter for this story, but real life really takes it outta you sometimes, you know? Still, I apologize and hopefully this chapter makes up for my lateness. So, without further ado…**

 **Disclaimer: In the first chapter.**

 _ **Watchtower**_

"No way. I can't believe that." Wonder Woman responded to John's story, while sipping from her iced mocha. Ever since Flash had showed her just how wonderful they had tasted, she was instantly hooked. It hadn't been intentional, but the beverage was just one of the many delicacies in Man's world that she had slowly come to enjoy. But that wasn't what she was focusing on at the moment. Across the room, John Stewart was sipping his own beverage, coffee, which she wasn't too fond of. It was far too bitter for her taste. When she had awoken from her slumber, the Amazonian princess had readied herself in the female bathroom in the tower and had begun making her way towards the lounge room that housed her newfound obsession where she found the Green Lantern already awake and sipping his own beverage of choice. They exchanged the usual polite pleasantries, although their first encounter was still in the back of their minds as they said good morning to each other. The two had started off to a rocky start, but nevertheless the two respected each other regardless of where they each came from. Anyways, as the Wonder Woman got her iced mocha ready, she asked him what the details exactly were regarding the mission prior to her watchtower duty. She regretted it as she saw the pain in his face as it contorted at remembering whatever had happened yesterday. Quickly, Diana tried to take it back, but he stopped her and said it was okay. Soon enough, he begun to tell her the tale of what exactly happened and…well to say she was surprised was an understatement.

"You don't believe what? That robotic androids who were created by my bosses kidnapped me because they believed I destroyed a planet, that alien talking heads were my judges, that the Flash was my lawyer, or all of the above?" John chuckled, leaning back in his chair and grabbed ahold of his coffee to sip.

The Amazonian smiled as she responded, "All of the above for sure. But…to think that your own friends, brothers-in-arms, could believe that you killed all those innocent people. It just boggles my mind." She said, shaking her head. "I just…it's incredible. To think that aliens…the Manhunters, I mean, could do such a thing and think that they could get away with it." Diana shook her head at the thought. A smile than graced her lips. "I'm glad you're okay though, John."

John returned the smile. "Thanks. To tell you the truth, I almost gave into the pain. If it wasn't for the others, I-…" He stopped himself, lowering his head in regret. How could he be so foolish? Falling for such a ploy? Not only that…but his own grief had almost cost him two of his comrades lives in that damn trial. He made a mental note to thank everyone again for their efforts. Thinking about his new friends then unfortunately reminded him of his own old ones. He grimaced at remembering the pain he felt as he watched the Green Lanterns, his so called brothers, walk out of the courtroom before the verdict was even given. "Yeah…that was probably one of the toughest parts. But I'll get over it. Besides…" The man smiled. "After yesterday, I learned that I have other people I can count on now. Hell, even the little smartass too." That was perhaps the biggest shock to him.

"You mean, Salamander?" Diana asked, interested in particularly that part of the story.

John nodded. "Who else? Even he came to my aid when I most needed it. Hell, that's the part that boggles my mind. The guy doesn't seem like he cares for anyone's company, besides Captain Marvel."

Diana nodded to that. The Salamander had made it quite clear where he stood on the Justice League and it wasn't a particular positive one. However, perhaps she was wrong. He obviously held some decency if he came to the aid of John Stewart, a man who was almost convicted of crimes he did not commit. Maybe he had more layers than she initially thought. "So…what do you think about him now?" Wonder Woman asked, curious to see just what her other teammate thought about the young man.

Before answering, the Green Lantern took a sip of his coffee as he thought long and hard about the few instances he had dealt with the Salamander…and it didn't seem positive. He was reckless, held barely any regard for the rules, brash, had a mouth like a sailor (perhaps even worse), and above all, didn't care for anyone but himself…well, John supposed that wasn't entirely accurate. The Salamander seemed to hold at least some semblance of kindness for the other newbie, Captain Marvel. Other than that, the young man was cold, which was ironic considering his powers. Still…he helped him when he was in a tight spot. Threatened with imprisonment and death, the snarky punk still came to his aid. "Honestly…I'm torn both ways. I mean, I'm grateful for what the guy did for me. No question about that, but still. He just holds different values than me and he makes that perfectly clear with his stupid comments. He's…kind of like what Batman would be if he was more snarkier and less smart."

Diana nodded at that description of the man. He definitely seemed like the antisocial type, even with all his quips and replies he consistently gave. Beneath all that, she got the feeling that there was some kind of hatred and anger somewhere inside. The Salamander made it perfectly clear that he hated being on this team. Since day one, he had complained and joked about how stupid this idea was, which irritated her to no end, but the Amazonian suspected that there was something more to him. That this wasn't just the normal cynicism she had seen in Man's world. It was something more…it had to be. "Yes…I can definitely see that. Strange how it seems."

The thought was itching in the back of his head. Part of him knew he probably shouldn't be asking, but he'd be remiss if he missed the opportunity to ask. "Why so curious now? I got the impression you didn't much care for him. Are you…interested in him?" John asked quietly, rubbing his head at the awkward question he put forth. He knew it was stupid to ask, but Diana did seem more determined to coax the Salamander out of his shell than the rest.

Brought out of her thoughts, the Amazonian looked at the man and tilted her head in confusion. "Interested? Of course I'm interested. Why else would I be asking about him?"

The Green Lantern opened his mouth to respond, but ultimately decided to drop the subject. _'Forgot she came from another society…a manless society.'_ "Ah never mind." He waved his hand in an expressive way to signal he didn't want to know. Dropping his hand, he began to tap on the table, feeling the awkward quietness of the room now. "So umm…everything go fine last night?" John asked in an effort to fill the silence.

The Amazonian crossed her arms across her chest. "Nothing much really. Nothing at least the Justice League needed to get involved with." She sighed. "It was quite boring actually. Especially since the Salamander wasn't particularly fond of 'filling the silence' or so the term goes. We talked for a bit, but soon enough the silence returned." John coughed awkwardly at hearing that, causing Diana to give him a look of confusion once more. "Are you all right?" She asked.

"N-No, everything's fine! I just…I get what happened to you." The Green Lantern shook his head, remembering one of his watchtower duty sessions. "Ugh…just last week I was paired up with the other antisocial one, Batman. I tried talking to the guy a bunch of times about stuff; favorite sports team, movies, most interesting mission, wome-...err…" John stopped, remembering who was talking to. " …It was just one of the worst experiences of my life. And believe me, that's saying something." He said, shaking his head at the memory, while also hoping that the Amazonian wouldn't piece together what the other subject he tried talking to the Dark Knight about.

Wonder Woman nodded with a small smile, seemingly unfazed or ignorant to what John had almost said, which caused John to quietly sigh in relief. "That seems like something Batman would do. Although, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't completely similar to my own experience."

The green intergalactic detective raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh. How so?"

"Well, I tried to coax him to talk to me at first, but he refused to budge." She replied.

"Mmmm…I know that feeling." John muttered out, shaking his head again.

Lightly chuckling to herself, Diana continued, "But after a while, he finally talked to me and…I don't know. It was brief, but for a moment there…I saw someone else. Someone completely different from the bitter, crude exterior…and it was nice." She smiled, remembering their quick exchange before it ended just as quickly.

"Uh huh." John nodded. "And then what?"

The Amazonian's smile then began to drop. "Then…the silence came back. As soon as we began talking of our homes, he became quiet and angry again. No matter how much I tried to get him to talk to me, he wouldn't budge and I could tell my questions were beginning to irk him. So I stopped and that was that." She shook her head. She was so close! But still…felt so far.

Seeing the woman seem to berate herself internally, John said, "Hey, don't beat yourself up. Guys like him…they just don't really function like we do. One minute they're happy, and the next, right back to their normal angry attitude."

"But why? Why is he like this? How can someone like him, so young, feel a sense of bitterness so heavy that he resorts to being so foul-mouthed and snarky?" Diana asked, confused. She was baffled as to how someone could be like this. Perhaps it could be because of her upbringing, but it still confused and enraged her as to how the Salamander was acting.

Hearing her question, John shrugged. "That's the mystery. Why people like him act the way they do is always a mystery. It's up to people like therapists and friends to figure out that, and we're not either."

Diana's brow furrowed at his words. She was angry at hearing that, but he was right. The Amazonian wasn't a therapist (she wasn't exactly sure what that was, but she made a mental note to check out exactly what they were…perhaps some form of warrior?) as well as a friend. "Perhaps…for now." She muttered; a firm look of resolve and determination etched across her face as she grabbed ahold of iced mocha and exited the lounge room.

John's eyes followed the determined woman as she exited the room and blew out sigh. "Judging from the look on her face…I do not envy that guy…" He shook his head, grabbing ahold of his coffee and brought it to his lips to drink.

* * *

 _ **The Batcave**_

Nothing…hardly anything! He'd been working on this for days, but still he'd barely gotten any information on the mysterious warrior. Batman growled as he rubbed his chin in thought. Who was he? Where did he come from? How did he control his powers? NOTHING! Slamming his hands onto his keyboard, the Dark Knight breathed out a heavy sigh. He was tired. For days he'd been preoccupied not just on the Salamander, but on all the members of the Justice League. Those same questions he'd labeled for the Salamander, some still plagued some of the other league members. Some of their secret identities eluded him, but he would find them in due time. Still, he hated being in the dark…at least when it came to information that could possibly doom the world. His eyes lowered to look at the files he had laid across his table, filled with as much information as to what he knew about each member. It was an invasion of their privacy, yes obviously, but he didn't care. Anyone one of them could be a danger if they went rogue. Hell, even he was a danger to the world. The Dark Knight knew things that could destroy not only this world, but potential other ones as well. Still, he couldn't give up. He had to find out just who, what, where these people came from, and so on. Cracking his neck, Batman continued typing onto his keyboard as he resumed his investigation. He was so preoccupied with the batcomputer that he didn't even notice someone entering the batcave.

…Ok, that was a lie. Of course he knew someone was entering the batcave, but it wasn't a cause for alarm. After all, he had memorized the gait of this particular person's walk since he was a child. This man, perhaps the only man he could truly trust, was his oldest and closest confidant, Alfred Pennyworth. A wise old man dressed in his regular butler attire that never changed stepped forward beside the caped crusader and breathed a heavy sigh. "Still at it, Master Bruce? Why I can't even remember the last time I saw you so intent on figuring out a mystery. It's been days since you've rested, Sir. You need it."

"I'm fine." Batman replied, still typing vigorously onto his keyboard.

"Yes, indeed. Why just this morning on the news I heard an old woman tell the news reporter that someone had stolen her purse the night prior. After the robber had gone a full 3 feet, the notorious Batman stopped him…why if you were indeed as 'fine' as you say, Master Bruce, then the poor lad wouldn't have made it one step. My you are really starting to slip, aren't you, Master Bruce?" The butler said, dry British wit evident in his tone. Batman didn't respond and was still staring intently at the batcomputer. Alfred looks up and sees a description of a person. "Salamander? Why I didn't know you had taken up in the interest in amphibians, Sir." Alfred uttered, looking down at the man beside him. His eyes then caught several files next to his foster son, catching the names such as, The Flash, Superman, with others buried beneath each other. The British butler deduced just what the man had been up to and sighed. "Is this truly the way to begin fresh new friendships?"

"I don't have friends." Batman replied immediately.

Alfred then sighed once again, disappointed in the man. Giving one last glance to his foster child in the hopes he would listen to his wise advice, the caped crusader continued typing, not even sparing him a glance. With a final heaving sigh, Alfred patted his master softly and left him to his investigation. "So, that's the reason I never received any calls for sleepovers."

Hearing the gait of his foster father walk away, Batman stopped typing and began once again rubbing his chin in thought. His eyes went back to the files on his desk and pushed past to reveal a smaller, thinner file than the rest. "Salamander" it said. The man was a mystery. He barely found any shred of an identity on him. No ID, no birth certificate, no Social Security number, not even a damn DUI. The only thing he truly knew about the man was his whereabouts. Fawcett city. Other than that, Batman was in the dark…and he hated being in this particular branch of darkness. His eyes then went back to the next it. "Captain Marvel." He at least had more on him, but it was only by a slim margin. The two of them were enigmas that had to be unraveled. They would be soon enough. Sighing, Batman threw the two files onto his desk and looked at the time. 9:37 A.M. _'Almost time for the meeting at Wayne Industries.'_ Bruce thought to himself as he rubbed his forehead. He would get to the bottom of not only these two, but the rest of the team's background. Still the thoughts lingered in his mind as he made his way back up to his manor about just what he was dealing with…mostly regarding a particular dressed smart-alecky teen.

' _Who are you?...'_

* * *

 _ **Unknown**_

Ashes to ashes…

Dust to dust…

How long had he…when did…did it matter? Small flecks of dust and ash flickered across the dead trees, falling onto the ground, darkening it further. Gray clouds covered the sky, covered even more by the ash that plagued this old, dead forest. Step by step, he walked. He'd been walking for so long…he wanted to sleep. To rest. Why coul-

' _Natsu…'_

' _Natsu…come…'_

'… _.closer, Natsu…'_

…Oh right. The whispers…he looked upwards, seeing the ashy, wispy forms of people he once knew….he once loved. No…still loved. Time had passed, but the feelings were the same…right? T-They had to be…right?

' _ **Who are you talking to?'**_

' _ **You're….'**_

'… _ **alone, right?'**_

A wave of fear shot through him. This whisper…it wasn't them. It was…he began running. He had to! He couldn't let it catch him. Never again. His feet crunched against the broken pieces of wood that had fallen from the dead trees…they were lucky. His eyes glared enviously at them. Why couldn-

' _Natsu…'_

He wanted to scream at them. To say, "Leave me be!" But it would have no use. He couldn't even whisper his own name here. All he could do was…

' _ **Run…' It whispered in his ear.**_

His feet carried him faster. He wanted to fight, but he couldn't. It was no use…nothing he did was of any use anymore. His breaths became heavier and heavier. Only in this place did he feel weak…feel vulnerable. Not out there…he couldn't. In that world…in any world, weakness would get you killed.

' _ **Then why did you tell her…talk to her…?'**_

He was lonely…tired. He wanted…she reminded him of…love.

' _ **We…ak…st…ill.'**_

A weak, small smile began to stretch across his lips. He could feel the whispers fade away. He was almost…almo-…he stopped.

No…no…NOONOONONNONONONONNONONONONONONONNONONONONONo! This was cheating! It couldn't….NO! He had to go back the way he came…he.

' _Natsu…'_

'… _come….'_

' _Natsu…listen…'_

No…he couldn't. Couldn't face them.

' _ **Nat…su…'**_

Couldn't face it…

He turned back to where he was running…to where he was always headed…no matter what. His steps became slower, in the hopes of prolonging the inevitable. But time…was cruel bitch. Sooner or later, it took everything you loved…and it had.

He stopped…and looked down. Whose was it? Did he know them?...haha what a stupid question. Of course. Still, he couldn't read the inscription…did it matter though? He kneeled down tiredly, bowing his head causing his forehead to touch the ground. Sorry…that's what he wanted to say, but no words could escape here. Because they were worthless. Nothing he could say would change anything. Only actions changed things…but those always gave way to consequences.

' _ **It gave birth…to me…after all…'**_

He could feel it behind him…breathing heavily. Why was it tired? It never got tired. Perhaps he was mocking him. It loved to do that.

' _ **Such a pretty…beautiful woman…'**_

Was that who it belonged to? He supposed it would know. It spent most of its time here, after all.

' _Natsu…run.'_

Still they tried to help him? Why…why…?

' _ **Run…run away…but to where…I…you…the same…always be with you…'**_

It's claws…dug into his back…his sins…crawling

' _ **Nowhere to run…to hide…to pretend.'**_

Pretend? To be what?

'… _ **hero…'**_

Ahh…of course. No worries there…how can you pretend to be something…when you don't believe in it. It chuckled right then. It's heartless, disgusting laughter. He hated it…him. Stop laughing…stop it! He wanted to ki-

' _Promise me, Natsu. Promise me.'_

It began to growl angrily at hearing that voice…hers. Even it felt the same anger then…the sadness. It hated to be reminded of it. His eyes began to linger on the object in front of him…was it…hers? It had been so long now…he still loved her…still loved them. Still I…

' _ **Then why…did you…speak to HER…'**_

Who…Diana? He…he didn't…

' _ **Liar…'**_

' _Natsu…'_

'… _Run.'_

How…he couldn't…he WOULDN'T leave her with that…it.

He still lov-

' _ **Then WHY-'**_

He was getting angry…he could feel it seep into his skin. He knew what it was doing. How dare he…how dare he question his love for…how dare he. His fingers dug into the ashy ground beneath him…morphing…changing shape.

' _Promise me, N-'_

' _ **SHUT UP!'**_

NO!

Full of anger and rage, his body began to turn until-

* * *

"Wake up! Salamander!" A voice cried out, causing him to wake up. His vision was blurry and he forgot just where he had fallen asleep, forcing him out of the seat he called a bed. Natsu let out a groan as his body collided with the floor, making the voice cry out in alarm. "Oh my gosh! Are you okay? I'm sorry, I di-" The voice stopped after seeing Natsu angrily put a hand up to stop their talking. Slowly, he pulled himself up as he got a better look as to who it…oh no. Diana. He could see everything on her face, the worriedness of hurting him…she looked so beau-

"What do you want?" He asked, interrupting his thoughts.

Taken slightly aback by his terse tone, Wonder Woman caught herself before she could reply back angrily. "I-I brought you an iced mocha. I noticed the last time we saw each other on here that you failed to get yourself one. So…here." She said, holding out the drink in the hopes the man would accept her olive branch, as well as her newfound addiction.

Natsu stared at the woman. Why was she being so nice to him? She hated him. It was obvious. Ever since Superman offered him a place and he rejected it, he could always sense the harsh looks the Amazonian sent his way. He didn't care though. "…I'm fine." The dragon slayer replied, sitting back down onto his seat.

Diana gave him an odd look. What was his problem? "I see. Well, I'll just leave it here then until you change your mind." She said, placing the beverage on the table next to them. Afterwards, she grabbed the nearest seat and placed it beside him once again. She heard him sigh, which slightly irked her, but she pushed through nonetheless. After all, she made a promise to Captain Marvel and an Amazonian's word was their bond. Especially one descended from royalty. Laying back in her seat, her eyes looked over to the man and saw him staring intently at the stars through the glass window in front of them. Looking at the stars and back to him, Diana asked, "They're beautiful, aren't they?"

"…" Natsu didn't respond as he continued staring at the stars. He'd be lying if he said they weren't beautiful as close as they were. Beneath all his bitterness, the fire mage could still appreciate a nice view when he saw one…even though it hurt him to see this particular one. It wasn't fair…he didn't deserve this. ' _Not once did I ever wish to see the stars as close as this...until you came along…'_ His chin tightened at his brain recalling particular memories he so dearly wished to be pushed back into the back of his mind once more. Otherwise, he knew his resolve would weaken once more and he'd open up once more, which he refused to do again. There was only one person he'd allow himself to fully open himself up to…and the Amazonian wasn't him.

Wonder Woman exhaled lightly through her nose at seeing another failed attempt to get the man to speak. Why was he making this so difficult? She had to know…she deserved to know! Sure they hadn't known each other long, but did she not deserve respect. Respected enough to at the very least warrant a conversation, if not to at least humor her. Was this man so rude and lazy that even that was too much for him?! She exhaled once again through her nose at remembering once again the promise she made. Like it or not, Wonder Woman had to work with the Salamander. They needed to trust one another. Otherwise, other vicious forces could use that lack of trust against the two…she knew no matter how much she didn't particularly like the man she could never betray a fellow member of the League. But him…who knew really? She barely knew anything about the guy. Still though, Diana wouldn't give up. An Amazonian never surrendered, after all. And regardless of how much irritation she would feel, Wonder Woman would break through this man's brash and rough exterior and reveal the true nature of what he was…what she saw the night before. A seemingly nice man…not that nice, but still that small sliver of decency she caught wind of during their brief exchange fascinated her, as well as angered her. Were all men so mysterious? Did all of them act nice, while hiding a darker nature? Or was it the opposite? Or perhaps…was it that this man was different than all the rest. Nevertheless though, Diana would get to the bottom of this mystery…

…with force if necessary.

* * *

 _ **Fawcett City**_

FINALLY!

After what felt like months, someone had finally arrived and Natsu had asked (not so nicely) to be dropped off somewhere in Fawcett. Obviously not near his house. He wasn't a fucking moron after all. Sure, he had given up the city that he lived in, but they would have found out eventually. If not them…then Batman would. Crawling in through the vent, he pushed aside the planks that housed his secret escape route and pulled himself upwards into his apartment. Batman, the renowned World's Greatest Detective. He knew the guy's reputation. He didn't live under a fucking rock, you know? Rumor had it that you gave the guy a paperclip and piece of scotch tape, then he could save the free world. A sardonic and harsh sigh escaped his lips as he took off his gear. Seriously? Where had all this hype come from? This was a guy that dresses up like a bat to solve crimes? The guy needed to be locked up in the nearest psychiatric ward. Obviously, this was the pot calling the kettle black, but Natsu at least knew his own psychological problems. "Whatever, fuck him…" He growled out, angry as to what he had decided to do next. The World's Greatest Detective…soon enough he would find out about his secret identity. The guy was a damn genius, far surpassing his own brain power for sure. Natsu wasn't the dullest knife in the shed, but he wasn't that sharp. But he wasn't worried about himself. He could take care of any problems himself if his identity was found out…but not Billy. The two were practically inseparable and if his own secret identity was found out, then surely the Dark Knight would put the pieces together and place Billy as the main culprit as Captain Marvel. The only thing he had to hold on to was the notion of a small boy yelling out one word and becoming a man on par with Superman's level of strength was pretty much preposterous…but that was small ledge to hold on to. Natsu's costume hid his identity pretty well, but…he looked upwards towards his particular shade of hair. Not many people had this shade of hair. At least not naturally of course. So…drastic measures had to be taken to hide it. But he hated hiding it. His hair, it was a part of him. It represented his attitude with the world. That he could give two shits about what anyone else thought about him and what he did…but he cared about Billy far more than his own personal beliefs. That kid…

…he meant the world to him.

So, drastic measures had to be taken. He hadn't done this in a while, but he still believed that he could do it. Slowly, he walked over to his bathroom. Perhaps, subconsciously, to prevent the inevitable decision he had reached. But nothing could stop him now. He had to do this. For Billy. Staring forward into his mirror, he saw himself…everything about him. The bags under his eyes, the tired grin, the ripped up scarf tied across his neck that was his most prized possession. He was different now. Far, far different than what he used to be. So…perhaps this drastic measure coincided with what he was doing. He was a different man…so a different look was perfect. Natsu took a couple deep breaths as he readied himself…he hated this. But still…he had to. Taking one last heavy sigh, he closed his eyes and began to concentrate. It took a while, but he remembered the feeling of it…he hated it. Hiding what he truly was…it was the only way to survive now though. Finally, the magic dissipated and now all that was left was to see just how he looked…at what he had become. Slowly, he opened his eyes and he saw himself…he hated this. It was a small change yes, but still, it wasn't him. It wasn't who he entered the guild as, who his father cared for, who she fell in love with…he was a different man though now. So…

…this was his consequence.

* * *

It had been a while since they'd seen each other, so Natsu decided to take a trip over to Billy's house. Also, he wanted to gauge just how weird this new look was. True he was a child, but he held Billy's opinion over anyone else's so he had to know what he thought of it. Walking towards the house in his usual hoodie and trouser attire, after all why change what ain't broken…unless it was to keep someone you loved safe. Sighing, Natsu knocked on the door until he heard a young voice yell out, "I got it! I got it!" A smile, a genuine one, stretched out against the dragon slayer's face as he heard the young boy run down the stairs. Finally, the door was thrust open and he saw the young boy in a Star Wars shirt along with R2-D2 pajamas pants give him a smile until it dropped to give a more confused look as his eyes reached the teen's hair. "Wwwwwwhat the heck is up with your hair?" He asked pointing at the new shade of hair Natsu was sporting.

Charcoal black…that what he had down to his hair. Fitting he supposed, but still…this wasn't who he was. Was it stupid to be worked over about yes, but…this hair carried over memories that he wished dearly he could forget about…but he never would.

"Yeah, I'm supposed to take fashion advice from you?" Natsu snarked back, pointing out the boy's Star Wars attire.

Feeling offended, Billy annoyingly replied, "What? Star Wars is the coolest thing in the world! You even think so!"

Natsu nodded while rubbing his chin. "True, true. The fact remains though is that you still look nerdy." Billy just responded by sticking his tongue out and walked away, giving Natsu a chance to walk inside the house. "Your parents' home?" He asked the boy, getting a no from him.

"Had to work. Normally they don't like leaving me by myself, but I told them you were stopping by." Billy said, sitting down on the couch in his living room and resumed the Star Wars film he was watching.

The dragon slayer was quite surprised to hear that his friend lied to his parents. Sitting down on the couch next to his young friend, Natsu raised his eyebrow as he questioned the boy, "You lied to your parents? My, I really am becoming a bad influence on you, aren't I?" He chuckled to himself.

Billy shook his head, while still keeping eye contact with the television. "Who said I was lying? You're here, so that shows I'm right. So, I didn't lie."

"And just how, oh wise child, did you know I was coming? Didn't know fortune telling was part of your array of superpowers." The fire mage grinned, leaning his arm against the head of the couch.

Shaking his head, a sudden smile sprung up between Billy's mouth, as if they boy was reliving past memories inside of his mind. "You always come here. Ever since we met…you've always come, so why stop now?" Afterwards, the boy leaned forward as he stared intently with a wild grin at the intense space battle that was ensuing on the screen before him. As for the dragon slayer, the grin has slowly waned, but had not completely dissipated from the teen's face. It was true. It hadn't happened immediately, but shortly after their first encounter, the two of them had quickly become inseparable. To this day Natsu still didn't completely understand why. After all, the two were on completely different ends of the spectrum; one an optimist, while the other a cynic. Still, both optimist and cynic still became close, balancing each other out. Yin and Yang. Making carefully sure that each one never went too far one way, while keeping the other safe from harm. That was the this friendship worked…

Friends…?

Why, why did he continue this? Hadn't he just told Wonder Woman that the Justice League, that bunch of moronic, optimistic fools that there wasn't a chance in hell that he'd ever befriend a single one of them? So why? Why Billy? Why continue this fantasy that was friendship?

Friendship is power…

What a load of horseshit…

Biting back his cynical feelings, Natsu sat back and faced the television, watching the "heroes" of the film combat the evil that plagued their galaxy. The dragon slayer did rather like this story. A story filled with wonderment, love, revenge…redemption.

'… _Sounds so familiar, doesn't it'._

Natsu chuckled humorlessly. He supposed it did in a way. A man who fell deep into the abyss because he feared he'd lose the one he loved…surrendered himself to the dark side to save his beloved. To keep his unborn children alive. But he failed. She died, even after his sacrifice, until he was finally redeemed by his son. A young optimistic boy who realized that there was still...hope. A chance to redeem his father from his evil ways. The cynic's eyes flickered towards his friend, lingering for just a few moments before shaking his head. Art did not imitate real life. This was just a work of fiction. A story like this…was like a fairy tale.

And those were also a load of horseshit…

"Pretty cool, huh?" Billy asked, sitting back as the amazing space battle subsided and the boy let out a breath of exhilaration.

A flicker of a smile stretched across Natsu's mouth before he responded, "Yeah…cool."

Fairy tales often were…

* * *

Not even a full week had passed since their last mission together. It had to be a fucking joke! How often were people gonna try to destroy the world?! Honestly, it was a fucking mystery that continued to evade the dragon slayer, but still he could not avoid this mission because of one simple reason…

"WHOOOOOO! Mission time with JL crew! Time to save some crew member from underneath the ocean!" Captain Marvel screamed jovially inside the JL spaceship that was quickly diving deeper and deeper into the blue abyss, raising his hands above his head.

…A damn kid with a hero complex.

Natsu sighed tiredly and sickly as he felt the ship swerve roughly through the various canyons that lingered throughout the deep beneath the ocean. Another rough turn caused the dragon slayer to nearly hurl his breakfast onto the interior of the ship. One could ask just why the driver of the ship was driving so roughly, basically torturing the poor soul that suffered from motion sickness. Well…

… this was what happened exactly.

 _ **Flashback**_

Before any of the hell started beneath the blue abyss, both Natsu and Billy were relaxing inside of the young boy's room. It wasn't a particularly large room, but there was still plenty of room for the young child. Strewn across his walls were pictures of various heroes, both super and normal. Littering his floors though were numerous action figures of superheroes, most being the iconic Superman. Billy was on his bed reading various comics that were strewn across his bedsheets, while Natsu was perusing his favorite website on the web. "You better not be looking at something naughty on my computer again. My Mom said she'd murder you if she caught wind of the history on my computer and she saw-"

Natsu slammed his fist on the desk. "One time! It was one time and that was because I was curious about something. Not my fault the most popular site on the internet is po-"

"LALALALALALA! I can't hear you!" Billy yelled, covering his ears to avoid hearing a potential bad word that could get him grounded.

The dragon slayer just rolled his eyes as he turned back to the computer screen and checked back to see if his fellow conspirator had responded yet…yes, you heard that right. Conspirator. Yes, Natsu was a conspiracy theorist. Don't be confused though, it wasn't like he actually believed most of the crazy things people blogged about on this website. He mostly got a kick out of seeing some of the various idiotic things people came up with by their supposed "gut feelings." However, there was one man on this site that caught his eye. Someone that actually stood above some of the moronic ideas that some of the other conspirators on the site wrote about. The strange thing was that the mysterious blogger wasn't particularly popular throughout the site. Probably because he didn't blog about big level shit like, "Who shot Kennedy?", or "Was the Moon Landing a Hoax?", etc. This guy happened to blog about stuff like…

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: Really? Boy bands and Girl Scouts are connected?_

 _NoFace?: Yes. Through the sugary snacks sold by the Girl Scouts, the brands that support those scouts also endorse various boy bands. So, through seeing those brands that also belong to boy bands whilst eating those delicious snacks, it tricks the consumer's brains into thinking that the boy band's that belong to those endorsers are also good. Therefore, when girl scout sales are up, then you also see tickets of boy bands also shoot up._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: …That's a pretty weak correlation, dude. How the do you really know if there really is a relationship between the two variables?_

 _NoFace?: A gut feeling._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: I swear, if you ever say something as cliché or stupid like that I'm gonna find you and kick your ass._

 _NoFace?: Couldn't even if you tried._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: Probably right. Too lazy to do any of that…_

 _NoFace?: Truly you are a disappointing pupil if you give up that easily when challenged._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: The fuck said I was your pupil?_

 _NoFace?: I did. Didn't you see my earlier reply?_

Natsu rubbed his forehead in exasperation. It was seriously hard to convey sarcasm and tone through messaging.

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: It's sarcasm, genius._

 _NoFace?: Why thank you. My IQ is definitely higher than the average human's._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: …_

 _NoFace?: Are you still connected? Or did the government finally track you down? If so, please terminate connections immediately._

Natsu slammed his fist into his forehead annoyingly before he responded.

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: I wasn't tracked down by any government. If anyone is being hunted down by the government, it's probably you._

 _NoFace?: Not this government._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: …So you're saying that other governments are tracking you down?_

 _NoFace?: That's classified._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: Yeah, whatever._

 _NoFace?: So did you hear?_

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: What? That our Earth is slowly dying through various climate changes and no one is doing shit?_

 _NoFace?: Old news. I was talking about the downed submarine that was taken down by secret aquatic life that hides their existence through magical properties beneath the ocean._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: …_

 _NoFace?: Are you still connected? Or did the government finally track you down? If so, please terminate connections immediately._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: WOULD YOU QUIT TYPIN' THAT! Obviously I'm still online if I type "…" I'm just baffled by your idiotic theory. I mean, what? Is Ariel the Little Mermaid pissed off that she couldn't get that boy toy of hers?_

 _NoFace?: Nonsense. Ariel died 3000 years ago. Disney merely buried the evidence so her descendants couldn't receive any of the rights or financial gain._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: …why do I keep talking to you?_

 _NoFace?: Because you're bored like of me of this world and want to unravel it's mysteries and the lies that have been told for centuries._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: …Eh, you're half right. So, tell me about the pissed off secret aquatic life then._

 _NoFace?: Apparently, there was a submarine filled with nuclear armaments, and whilst it was moving to its secret destination, and was suddenly attacked by the secret aquatic life, "Mer-people", as I choose to call them._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: Mer-people?_

 _NoFace?: Yes, after all there not only men, but also women and perhaps a combination of the two. It bodes well to be politically correct in this world._

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: Well, I can at least agree with you there, so-_

Suddenly, as Natsu was typing, a familiar voice rang out inside of his mind. _'Hello again, Salamander. Do not be alarmed. I am not looking through your mind to see your identity. I am merely informing you that mission is being commenced and your assistance, as well as Captain Marvel's has been requested by two of the three members that will be partaking in the mission.'_ Oh, you had to be fucking kidding me…couldn't he at least have one full cocksucking week off?! Turning his head, he sighed at seeing the beaming smile Billy was giving him. And worse…

…it was a Friday. His mother and father were away…he was alone with him…oh no.

"OOOOOOOOOH YES! C'mon, Natsu, let's go save the world!" The jubilant boy screamed out, racing out of his room, leaving an angry dragon slayer behind.

"Ugh…" Natsu growled out, swerving his chair to look back at the computer screen.

 _SnarkyAssholeDragon777: Well, I can at least agree with you there. Listen, gotta head out. Stupid work is calling me. Good luck with your "Mer-people" theory. As for me, gonna be a long day._

After that, Natsu closed the site. It wasn't rude suddenly leaving the conversation like that. The guy, or girl, never responded to after he said goodbye. Probably thought it was cool to leave the conversation without saying goodbye. Nevertheless, that didn't matter right now. What did…was making this comment. "Billy…you're wearing your pajamas…" A smile grew wider as he heard the boy yell out in anger and embarrassment as his footsteps thundered back upwards towards his room.

After that, Natsu raced back, or slowly walked…shit, he wasn't in any hurry to see those people, and put on his outfit before Captain Marvel picked him up and they went to their designated spot in the city where J'onn told them they would be picked up. Surrounding them was a flurry of dense trees, outside the city limits. Perfect spot to be picked up incognito. Whilst they waited, Natsu shook his head in irritation. "This is bullshit…"

Hearing his friend swearing inappropriately, Billy turned with his mouth open in shock. "LANGUAGE!"

Exasperated, the dragon slayer threw up his hands in anger. "Oh come on, Bi-err-Cap! Not only are wasting our Friday on a stupid mission…no, that's it! We're wasting our Friday on a stupid mission! C'mon, they haven't even told us what it's about, but they just expect us to open up our schedules like it's no big deal just to placate them. It's bullshit!"

Captain Marvel merely shook his head in disappointment towards the cynical man. "It's not that at all. We're devoting our time to bettering the lives of individuals in need. How can you say that's a waste of time?"

"Like this: it's a waste of t-" Suddenly, Natsu was interrupted by the sound of a roaring engine. It was still a ways off, but his heightened senses had caught wind of it still. "…time." Sighing, he moved his head upwards to see the JL space jet slowly descend in the open area, the strong winds blowing hard which caused numerous leaves to be blown off of their respective branches.

Captain Marvel, feeling particular excited for his first official mission, hopped in joy as the jet touched the ground and the bay door was slowly beginning to open. "Oh boy! Oh boy! Who do you thing we're working with today? Oh I hope Superman is with us! I wanna show him my new moves!"

The Salamander raised his brow behind his mask, "What new moves? You training without me?"

Shaking his head, the boyish man replied, "Course not! I just haven't shown him all my moves yet. So, by that logic, that means most of my moves are new!" He said with a smile.

Natsu rolled his eyes at hearing that. "Brilliant deduction there, Sherlock."

"Thank you!" The captain of thunder replied with a cocky smile.

' _Huh…guess 'NoFace?' isn't the only one incapable of understanding sarcasm.'_ Natsu thought as he and Captain Marvel slowly walked towards the ship and through the bay door. He sniffed the air, getting a clear vision of who was on board. The dragon slayer made careful sure to memorize all of their particular scents lest anybody morph their bodies to look like any of the Justice League. Never could be too careful. He smelled…Superman. Billy would be happy to see that…Green Lantern. Good guy…after last mission, he could tell that beyond the large stick up his ass he was pretty powerful. There was one more… it was-…oh no. Fuck…oh anybody…anybody but-

"Wonder Woman! Green Lantern! OH Superman! Yes! I was hoping you'd be here too!" Captain marvel beamed, shooting forward to shake everyone's hand, while also making careful sure to focus heavily on the blue boy scout. All the color drained from Natsu's face as he saw the smiling face of the Amazonian staring at his one and only friend. Don't look…maybe he could leave quickly. No…then he'd be leaving Billy behind. He could never do that. Then…maybe- "Salamander, come on! Sit down! We have to go!" His friend yelled at him, breaking him out of his thoughts. Shaking his head, he could see her eyeing him, studying him…as if he was some sort of puzzle she was trying to carefully piece together. Try all she might…he refused to give her any more clues. Blowing out a small flame, Natsu took his seat in the back of the cruiser and made careful sure to buckle up as- "Hey, what are you doing back there?" The boyish man asked, quickly zooming over to Natsu and picked him up to place him in a seat next to the members of the Justice League. "There, now you're next to your friends!" Captain Marvel said with a smile, as he sat back down onto his own seat. Wonder Woman gave a snort of derision as she heard the man's words as she began starting the plane. "You ok, Wonder Woman?" Captain Marvel asked with a look of confusion.

"Yes, I'm fine." She replied with a smile to him, a warm genuine smile. "Thank you for asking." The Amazonian then turned back as the ship took flight and everyone was shoved slightly aback as the thrusters took effect.

"Hurgh…" Natsu groaned out, feeling his motion sickness take effect as well.

"Motion sickness, right?" John asked him, pointing to his stomach.

"No…I just-" Before he could give a snappy response back, the jets suddenly shot them even more forward, causing Natsu to nearly blow chunks over the floor.

"Wow, Diana! I know we're in a hurry, but you need to be delicate with the controls." Superman told the Amazonian with worried look on his face.

"Sorry, Superman. Still just a little new to this technology." Diana apologized, never losing eyesight with the sky in front of her. That was a lie…a bold-faced fucking lie and Natsu knew it. She did that on purpose. He could hear it in her voice. Just as John had mentioned his motion sickness, she suddenly forgot how to fly? Yeah, bullshit. Natsu glared at the reflection of her in the mirror, catching her eye and giving him a glare just as strong.

"You can't be seri-HURGH!" The Salamander groaned out, covering his mouth as the ship suddenly dived downwards roughly into the ocean.

"Diana!" Superman shouted to her.

"Sorry." She immediately replied, as if she had the fake apology on hand already.

"You ok?" John asked him, giving him a raised eyebrow.

"…Mind your own business…" Natsu growled out, strapping himself in tight.

John just shook his head as he stared out the window, making a mental note to question Diana about just what was going on between the two. As the ship delved deeper into the ocean, Captain Marvel tapped his friend on the shoulder from the seat behind him. "Everything ok?" He asked worryingly, his eyes full of confusion.

Seeking to dissolve that confusion to alleviate his friend's stress, Natsu breathed out a sigh and replied, "…Yeah, it's-Hurgh! F-Fine." Another sudden turn…she was really beginning to irk him. Slamming his head on the head rest behind him, Natsu tried to transport himself to another place, but was continuously driven out by the fuming Amazonian's rough driving.

Sigh…today really was going to be a long day.

 _ **End of Flashback**_

And that was that. A particularly annoyed Amazonian who was spurred by her benevolent actions to befriend the cynical dragon slayer had backfired. And now in an attempt to get back at him, or perhaps in her own passive aggressive way, was purposely driving recklessly and roughly in attempt to either kill him, or at the very least spew every ounce of food he's ever eaten into the ship. If he wasn't so angry, Natsu would applaud her for the ballsy action. Still though, this was his entire fault. He wasn't ignorant to the fact. All she wanted to do was make a new friend and what did she get in return for her good deed? Nothing…no words at all. No 'thank you.' No nothing. A harsh lesson she needed to be taught though. Niceties and optimistic beliefs would only end up hurting yourself in the end…and possibly worse, someone you loved.

…The worse possible consequence.

So, better to not have anyone you loved, right?

"Wow! Look, Salamander, the wildlife down here is astounding!" Billy shouted out, pointing out the strange-glowing jellyfish along with the oddly-formed crustaceans near the bottom of the reef.

…He really wished he could follow his own advice right now though…

Smiling back at the boyish man, Natsu grinned. "Think we should take one home?"

Captain Marvel shook his head. "Nah…something tells me feeding these particular breeds would be hard, as well as expensive."

Hearing their conversation, Superman chimed in, "Do you like aquatic life, Mr. Marvel?"

The boyish man jumped slightly at hearing his idol call upon his heroic secret identity. "Y-Yes, Superman! Not just fish though, d-dogs, cats, lions…any kind of animal really."

The Kryptonian smiled at hearing that. "Well, maybe one of these days I could give you a tour of my secret zoo in my fortress. There's animals that no one has seen for centuries out in the galaxy. Would you be in-"

"YES! Err…I mean, I would be honored, sir." Billy said, grinning happily.

"Nice save." John chuckled, getting Captain Marvel to blush embarrassingly. Seeing his friend so embarrassed, Natsu couldn't help but grin. Suddenly, the ship took a sharp turn to the left, causing most of the people inside to jerk leftwards harshly. Thinking it was another of one of Wonder Woman's chances to fuck with him again, the Salamander was just about to cuss her out before-

"We've got company!" The Kryptonian shouted, pointing to a large ship ahead of them, which began firing missiles towards their own ship.

"Not for long!" Diana growled, veering the ship sharply downwards, narrowly avoiding said missiles.

"What the heck is another ship doing down here?!" Captain Marvel yelled out.

"I don't know, but something tells me we shouldn't stick around to find out." John replied.

"S-Seconded." Natsu murmured, still recovering from the other sharp turns Diana was continuing to do to avoid the large ship's advances. Accelerating further, the Amazonian cruised the ship into a trench below in the hopes of losing the ship. The large ship then fired several more missiles, causing Diana to take evasive actions. She growled angrily to herself, this being her first firefight in a ship, while simultaneously being her first time fighting below the ocean. She couldn't lose…she was a warrior! Looking ahead, the Amazonian princess saw two curved arches…far too small for any large ship to fit through. Smirking, Diana accelerated the ship further towards the arches. The large ship, in an effort to apprehend the intruders, tried driving through the arches, but ended up failing as their own ship crashed through one of the arches and ended up getting stuck in the other one.

"Lost 'em! Heh, good job, Princess." The Green Lantern smiled, giving the Amazonian a nod.

Unbeknownst to the crew though, another large ship then popped up in front of them, blocking the way. "You were saying?" Superman asked with a raised eyebrow. The Amazonian sighed and sharply veered to the right, avoiding a second large ship. Shaking his head, the blue boy scout unbuckled his seat belt as he opened up a hatch above his seat.

"What are you doing?" Captain Marvel asked, seeing his hero grab an oxygen mask from the hatch.

"Doing what I do best. Those sailors don't stand a chance if we keep playing cat and mouse. Come on." He replied to the captain of thunder, throwing the rest of his team oxygen masks. Getting the message, Captain Marvel nodded as he and the other two heroes unbuckled their seat belts. Wonder Woman, the Green Lantern, and Superman then quickly opened up the hatch as they quickly exited the ship as the water began flooding in. Seeing his heroes on the move, Billy ran to join them before-

"AHEM!" A voice rang out. Billy then stopped immediately as a blush forced its way up his face. A quirky, embarrassed smile formed on his face as he looked back towards his seasick friend still buckled as water began filling up the ship. He then quickly ran back towards his friend as he began unbuckling Natsu's seatbelt, seeing a deadpan stare on his face.

"I didn't forget you!" The boyish man rang out inside the flooding ship, blushing cheeks still evident on his face.

"Mmmhmm…" Natsu murmured, the deadpan stare still on his face. His seatbelt unbuckled, Billy quickly grabbed him and placed their oxygen masks on as they both escaped the ship, just barely avoiding an incoming missile towards the ship. As the two escaped, they then saw the other three heroes fighting the large two ships that had ambushed their own. One of the ships cannons quickly locked onto the three heroes and began firing towards them. In an effort to protect her comrades, Diana used her bracelets to deflect the oncoming laser bullets, giving Superman a chance to punch through the laser cannon and dislodge it from the ship. Quickly afterwards, John then fired his ring, creating a laser which carved through the hull underneath of the ship and forcing it to slowly fill with water. Piggybacking on his efforts, both Superman and Wonder Woman swam to opposite sides of the ship and pushed with their superior strength, forcing the ship to slowly close in on it while bot completely crushing so as to allow any of the enemies aboard to escape. Finally, the two stopped, dropping the ship and allowing it to fall towards the ocean floor.

"Ummm…" Billy muttered.

"What?" The dragon slayer asked.

"Your powers…how're you gonna…" He continued his thought, still not completely finishing it.

What? What the heck was he trying to say? The fire mage…oh…fire. Fire…water…ahh. There was the dilemma. "…Crap." Natsu muttered out, an annoyed look on his face. Welp…looks like it was time for plan B. "Billy…shall we these wannabes how it's done?" He whispered to him, getting a beaming smile from the jubilant boy.

"You mean it? Oh boy! I'm so excited. LET'S DO THIS!" He shouted out, putting the dragon slayer onto his back. Captain Marvel then shot himself forward, charging like a speeding bullet towards the second ship. The ship then turned its cannons towards the two, but failed to land even one blow onto either of their bodies. Quickly, the captain of thunder, charging himself with as much electricity as he could allow, zoomed underneath the cannon, allowing Natsu to fire a single electric punch onto the cannon, causing it to not only break it, but also to discharge the entire ship's power as well. "Not done yet!" the hero in red shouted out, continuously zooming back and forth towards the hull of the ship, both him and his friend hammering punches upon punches filled with electrical power. The ship, slowly being hammered and drained of its power, also began to fall towards the ocean floor, but not before the big finale. "One more!" Billy shouted out, shooting upwards and stopping just above the falling ship. "Ready?" He asked his just as eager friend.

The dragon slayer smirked. "Course I am… **Lightning Fire Dragon's…** " Both smiling, Captain Marvel made sure that his friend was holding on to his cape tightly as he shot them both forward, both charging up one final attack, and shot forward simultaneously, firing fists of thunder onto the ship. " **…FIRING HAMMER!** " The mage roared, forcing a large electrical discharge along with a humongous hole to form from the combined efforts of the two. Finally, the ship quickly fell just like the other and crashed downwards onto the ocean floor.

"Well, I'll be…" John murmured, shocked to see such destructive power from the two. "Something tell me that the guy in red could probably give you a run for your money, Superman." He said, a smirk forming as he gave the Kryptonian a look.

Superman rubbed his chin. "Maybe. It's a good thing he's on our side, right?"

John nodded in response.

Diana, however, kept her eyes glued to the two. They were amazing…the two of them. Both working in unison, watching each other's backs. Neither of the two seemed like they were trying too hard, but the power…both of theirs…simply amazing. And their smiles. They enjoyed it. Even now, they were beaming at the other, giving each other what she had realized to be called a "high-five." Friends. That's what they were. Even if he denied it, the Salamander, that bastard, though of his large, boisterous companion in red that way. So why…why was he so cruel to her advances? Why-suddenly, movement from below caught her eyes. Not just hers though.

"What the…" John asked in shock, seeing several men swim out from the falling ships, wearing strange gray armor. _'These aren't ordinary soldiers…'_ They couldn't be. Their tech was something that the man had never seen before on the surface…perhaps because…it didn't exist on the surface.

"Whoa! This is seriously freaky!" Captain Marvel murmured to his friends, having swam back after seeing the enemy soldiers begin to swim out of their destroyed ships.

Natsu continued staring down below. A strange thought suddenly sprung up as he watched the armored enemies swim out, fluidly he might add. No joke intended. Their movements were something he had never seen before. As if swimming beneath the ocean was something as akin to walking for him. How… _'Apparently, there was a submarine filled with nuclear armaments…'_ Submarine? His eyes slowly flickered downwards…there it was…just below them. But…wasn't their mission just to rescue some downed survivors from a…submarine. No…he couldn't have…that was impossible. But…his eyes flickered towards the swimming soldiers. _'…and whilst it was moving to its secret destination, and was suddenly attacked by the secret aquatic life…'_ No…

"Halt!" A loud voice rang out in front of the five, forcing them all to turn their heads upwards to see even more enemies clad in gray armor riding strange machines beneath them and another large ship behind them. But that wasn't what their eyes were glued to. No, their eyes were glued to the man riding the even bigger car-like machine. A huge, muscled man with long blonde hair and beard, clad in green and gold armor with a large tri-pointed trident stopped in front of them with an angry look on his face. "You've violated the sovereign borders of Atlantis. Leave at once, or you will be destroyed." He growled, pointing his trident towards the five.

Oh…what? No, no way. He couldn't…he couldn't be righ- ' _"Mer-people", as I choose to call them.'_ No…

Superman, in an effort to placate the ruler of Atlantis, raised his arms in the air. "I'm sorry. We apologi-"

"WHOA! Atlantis is real! Salamander, did you hear?!" The boyish man grinned with glee, tapping the awestruck dragon slayer who was still recovering from a supposed conspiracy theorist being proven right. He then turned towards the king of Atlantis. "Wow, so are you like the king of all mermaids? Wait, is that what you're called? I mean, I understand why the girls would be called that, but-wait! Where are your tails? Does nobody have tails here? Wh-"

"SILENCE!" Aquaman shouted out, slamming his trident onto his speeder. "Enough of your talking. I will not repeat myself again. Remove yourself from my land, or I will remove you myself." He growled, his fingers tightening around the pole of his trident.

Natsu growled at the man's threat, but looked around to see that they were vastly outnumbered. If they did end up in a fight, there wasn't a doubt in his mind he'd get out of it fine…but Billy… _'Stay calm.'_ He took a deep breath to calm himself. First priority was keeping him safe…nothing else.

Superman raised his arms once again in a plea of forgiveness. "I'm sorry, but we're just responding to a call for help." He said, pointing down towards the crashed submarine.

Following his finger, the king of Atlantis lowered his eyes to look down at the fallen submarine. He shook his head in contempt for the souls trapped inside. "It was their fault. They should have stood on the surface where they belonged…like you should have." A growl emanated from his mouth as he gave the five a harsh glare.

"Please." Wonder Woman uttered out, holding out in her hands. "The men on board. They'll drown. Surely you don't want the lives of those men, whom probably have families that are worried about them, weighing down on your conscious, do you?"

Aquaman raised an eyebrow towards the woman. Why should he care about the lives of surface dwellers? Surely they held no love for the lives of his own people…of his own family. Flashes of images envisioned inside of the king of Atlantis' head at the thought of his wife and his son. The king shook his head once again. He couldn't believe what he was about to say. "Take the crew. The vessel stays." Truly, his family was making him soft, but the thought of losing either of his beloved family scared the king more than he'd like to admit. Even if he hated the surface dwellers, that was a fate he wouldn't wish on anyone.

Unfortunately, his kind act was undermined by the Green Lantern's dismissal. "No way. That's a nuclear sub." John growled, pushing Superman out of the way as he stared towards the glaring king of Atlantis. "If you think we're just going to stand there and leave it-" His words were stopped as the pointed edges of a trident stopped near the man's neck. John down at how close he was to being impaled and looked up towards the scowling king.

"Who said you had a choice?" Aquaman snarled, making carefully sure his words enunciated his message towards the surface dweller. A small smile formed as he saw the Green Lantern's eyes glow green. Fine, he wanted a fight? Then so-

"Wait!" Captain Marvel yelled out, rushing to the middle of the scowling men. Natsu's eyes widened as he saw his friend get in the middle of the men who looked just about ready to eviscerate one another and cursed his lacking reflexes. Truly, years of slacking in his training were beginning to catch up with him. That had to be rectified soon enough before…he shook his head. As he was about to swim towards his friend, Superman grabbed ahold as Natsu snarled towards his direction for stopping him from protecting his optimistic companion. Suddenly, he pointed upwards, forcing the fire mage to look up to see dozens of the armored squadron aiming their weapon towards the five…at Billy. Another low growl emanated from himself as he saw the guns pointed at his friend. If they fired…he knew his limits. His fire wouldn't be able to propel him fast enough to protect his friend.

' _Damn it…'_

"We have to trust him." Superman whispered towards the dragon slayer, just as angry at seeing one of his newest friends being unknowingly threatened. But they needed to wait before acting rashly. Otherwise, no one would come out of this battle a winner.

Captain Marvel raised his hands towards the king of Atlantis in a friendly manner. "Hiya! My name's Captain Marvel and these are my friends." He smiled, waving his hands towards the five of his friends.

"I don't care." Aquaman glared at the boyish man, getting a low snarl from the oddly dressed man behind Captain Marvel.

A small bead of sweat came falling down the boyish man's head. _'Hehe…guess he's not really friendly, is he?'_ He silently gulped down his small fear and continued. "I'm sorry, we got off on the wrong foot, but right now time is out enemy. Right now, down there in that sub there are people who need our help, and as heroes, it's our duty to save them. I know you likely don't care for our kind, but…surely the deaths of those souls are not what you wish, right?" Billy said to the king. "I'm sorry for our trespassing and for my friend's rude actions, but there is no need to fight. We came here to save those people and you want us gone. So, there's no need to fight! Please forgive us and allow us to assist those poor souls and I promise to leave just as quickly as we came." Captain Marvel lightly bowed towards the king of Atlantis, getting a raised eyebrow from him.

Thinking to himself, Aquaman stroked his beard several times before answering, "Fine, I will overlook this slight." Billy smiled at hearing that before he finished with one final line. "But just this once. If any of you return to my land, I promise you a swift and merciless defeat, do you understand?" He growled towards the man.

Billy gulped down as he shakily nodded. "Y-Yeah. I mean, yes, Your Highness. Thank you." Backing away from the king, he then turned to his friends and gave them a thumbs up.

John, however, was still averse to this deal and opened his mouth to object. "But there's still-"

"I know, John." Superman interrupted. "I know, but right now those people need our help and that takes priority." He said, swimming down towards the downed sub. They had wasted enough time with the Atlantians. Right now, people needed to be saved, and regardless of the nuclear material being left behind, he would do what was right. John sighed with an angry huff before following along with Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel, leaving behind a scowling dragon slayer staring at the king of Atlantis.

Aquaman returned that scowl with equally fueled aggression. "Something to say, boy? I recommend you keep whatever you're about to say and shove it down your throat…or my trident will do if for you." He gripped his iconic weapon with a harsh glare. The boy continued scowling for several more seconds before finally scoffing and swimming down with the other surface dwellers.

Quickly he caught up to the rest as he entered into the submarine. Scared faces…no that wasn't right. They were initially scared, but seeing him, as well as his friends enter inside, they suddenly turned into…hopeful looks. Hope…hehe for him? He was just a guy in a mask pretending. So why…oh little they actually knew. His eyes looked past the injured sailors and looked to see his friend helping another of the sailors into the Green Lantern's giant green bubble. Pushing past some of the crew members, making sure not to avoid as many of them as necessary as to keep from accidentally harming them any further, and grabbed the hem of his friend's white cape and pulled him into one of the rooms adjacent to them. "HEY!" Billy screamed at being torn from his job and pulled his cape away from his furious companion.

"Don't EVER do that again, ok?! Do you know how fuc-freaking stupid that was?! Those two were just about to tear each other's head off and you put yourself in the middle of them!? Are you NUTS?!" Natsu whispered angrily towards his frowning friend.

"And what was I supposed to do? Huh? Let them duke it out while these people were losing what little oxygen they had? I had to do something!" The captain of thunder whispered back, slamming his foot onto the submarine, causing it to shakily move from his kick. "Oh shoot!" He whispered, as the submarine shook until it finally stopped, causing him to sigh in relief.

"You see?! You don't think! You just act on your emotions in the heat of the moment and look what happens! You CAN'T do that! Do you know how many weapons were pointed at you when you were 'saving the day', huh!? Dozens! You're fast, but not fast enough to deflect and dodge the bullets of those guys along with any of those giant ships at the same time too!" Natsu angrily growled back.

"Yes I am! You don't know that! You saw how awesome we were doing against that ship. Our teamwork was just as amazing as it always was. Besides, Superman or Wonder Woman would have defended us too. They're our-" Billy defended, before he was cut off.

"I DON'T CARE!" The dragon slayer told the foolish optimist. "They can defend themselves. They're grown ass people that have made their choice, but my job isn't to protect them."

"Well, if that's not your job, then what is it to do?" Billy asked the dragon slayer with a hard look.

"It's to-…it's to…it's…" Natsu stumbled in his words. He had to know…no how could he? He was just a kid. Ignorant to the way the world truly worked. Billy thought all you needed was a cape and name and that made you a hero. That that mad you strong…but he was wrong. Oh so wrong. The dragon slayer looked back towards his friend and could see the small glimmer of hope. The hope that he would say the "right thing." It being that it was to save the world. Protect the innocent and blah blah blah…who cares? He didn't care about the faceless masses that housed the world either on the surface or below. Obviously if someone was about to get hit by a car or shot, then he'd step in. He wasn't evil, but still…there wasn't a light inside of him that told him that he needed to save the world. Just a flickering flame of what was…of what he used to be. "Bi-"

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing Wonder Woman to be the one who had opened it. Natsu's eyes shot towards her. How long had she been there? There were so many footsteps clamoring inside the submarine that he couldn't really hear what was going on outside the room besides that. Not to mention he was far to engrossed inside another one of his "interventions" with his foolish, optimistic companion. A harsh look fell on his face. She'd heard…everything. He knew she did. "Everyone is inside the Green Lantern's bubble. We need to leave now." She said, moving her eyes towards Captain Marvel to him, giving him a harsh look of her own. Yes…she heard all right.

Captain Marvel nodded and cleared his throat. "Yes, of course. Forgive us for our slowness." He said to Diana as he walked towards the door. He then passed her up as the dragon slayer stared her down as he quickly followed behind.

As the Amazonian was about to leave as well, a hand blocked her way. "You know, it's really rude to listen in on people's conversations." Natsu growled, his hand gripping the metal door harshly.

Diana continued staring at him, not giving up an inch with his own glare. "Yes, well it's also rude to rebuke such commendable and altruistic actions like your friend just did for those sailors. Like a hero is supposed to do…you do know that right?" She said, a disappointed look on her face as she walked away from him.

Natsu stared at the floor as he fought to calm himself. They were both fools…optimists that thought they could change anything…he shook his head and walked out with a huff towards the Green Lantern's bubble. As he exited the submarine, his eyes caught Superman conversing with the king of Atlantis. His ears managed to catch snippets of their conversation. The dragon slayer scoffed as he pieced together that the blue boy scout was trying to convince the man to air his grievances towards the World Assembly. He didn't need to be a telepath to know that the king had no care about talking to the politicians that housed the World Assembly. The fire mage couldn't blame him…politics sucked. Natsu shook his head as he turned his head and saw Wonder Woman starting up the ship, damaged as it was, it was still in working condition. He sighed as he knew that she would put him through hell on the ride home. Slowly, he swam towards the ship and entered inside, even though it sucked seeing as how water began flowing inside as the ship opened, but that was a whole 'nother reason as to why he hated this mission. Taking his seat next to his pouting companion, he buckled himself tightly as he felt the cold, watery liquid stream down his face and his costume soaked the chair he sat in. Uncomfortable as it was, at least the mission was over. The dragon slayer's eyes flickered towards Captain Marvel. He was still pouting over their little argument, but soon enough it would be over. They'd done this routine over and over ever since they first started working together. They both switched off. Sometimes Natsu would lecture him, while others Billy would be the one lecturing him. Both parties would end up heated and angry, but by the end of it, they'd both apologize and life would go on. Natsu tried not to go too far though. Billy was just a kid, but that just made him even more furious. He was just a kid. Why couldn't he do normal stuff the kids did in this world? Play video games, go on that stupid social media, play pranks, etc. He sighed to himself. Then again, if Billy did do any of that, then he wouldn't be the friend he loved. He shook his head, dispelling the thought from his head. Laying back and closing his eyes, all he cared about now though was just falling asle-a sudden jerk suddenly woke him up, causing him to grab his stomach in pain.

"Sorry." Wonder Woman apologized, even though he could tell it was as fake as the Flash's "girlfriend" that lived in Canada. She was pissed at him…even more so now that she heard his rant towards Captain Marvel.

Ah well…soon this hellish ride would be over and he'd be back at Billy's house.

All he had to do was get through this…

* * *

 _ **Watchtower**_

Son…

Of…

A BITCH!

He was really, REALLY, beginning to hate these guys. So, seeing as how the mission was over, you'd think the "heroes' would then realize that, hey, they didn't need both him and Captain Marvel. So why not just drop them off? Mission over = people go home. Simple, right?

' _WRONG! Motherfuckers! Come on! The mission is done, the people are saved, so let us go home!'_ Natsu grumbled to himself on the floor, leaning against one of the glass windows that faced the Earth. His eyes flickered to see Billy standing with John, Diana, and J'onn near him. His face was hiding it, but he was happy to be back on the watchtower. The kid loved it here. If he wasn't keeping up this charade about being this amazing, professional hero, then the kid would easily touch every single button this place had. A small smile perked up from that thought at Captain Marvel, with childish glee, eagerly pushing every button on the place, unknowingly probably causing who knows how much destruction either on the ship or the planet.

...Okay, in that context, probably not that funny. But you just had to imagine it the right way.

Anyways though, the dragon slayer was not only pissed at being stuck here, but also the ride here was just awful. Sharp turns, accidental jerks, and so much more kept the dragon slayer's hand over his mouth the entire ride back here. He could tell the Amazonian just loved spiting him, but he just tried keeping the rest of his anger to himself. He saw the way the woman fought…he was strong, but not stupid. If she wanted to crush him like a bug, she could easily. His eyes subtly moved to her, staying on her. She was a warrior that was for sure. The tones muscles, the strict posture, even her demeanor was that of a trained, professional warrior. But even with all that, there lied a kind soul inside of her. A kind soul…that he could never- He shook his head. He needed to stop thinking about that. Never gonna happen. She was an entirely different person than him…perhaps before…but not now.

Unbeknownst to him, as soon as his eyes left her, hers began studying him. Even if she couldn't see it literally, there was a mysterious aura to the man, or boy, or not boy but an older version of one. A teenager, but slightly older. Much more mature than some of the ones that she had come across in her travels in Man's world. Most she saw were more preoccupied with either flirting with the opposite gender, or acting brash and loud with their male friends, perhaps in an effort to appeal to the opposite gender. But him. He was a mystery. Why was he here? Obviously he didn't like being here. The young man made that perfectly clear every time he stepped foot in here. Either through snarky comments or frowning looks he made it clear just where he stood. But why? If he hated it, then why continue coming? Her eyes flickered from him to the grinning, large Captain Marvel that stood beside her as he talked to J'onn. Now him he got along with. He was always polite and nice, which was the complete opposite towards his cynical and rude companion. Diana's eyes moved between the two. Complete opposites yet still friends. How? It just made absolute no sense to her. How could someone so nice, so kind be associated with someone so rude and so…so…ugh, this just go harder and harder with every mission. She didn't want to dislike the man…she didn't dislike anyone, but he made it so hard to like him. Most seemed to get on fine with him, particularly the Flash and Captain Marvel, but for the rest he made virtually no effort to befriend nor support…except when John needed it. When he so desperately needed it. The Green Lantern didn't expect anything from his comrades let alone him, but he still…she gripped her fists. She had to stay strong. While this was tough to comprehend, this was what she was here to do. Her main goal. To unite both Man's world and Themyscara together and make sure that the two worlds functioned in unison. And through him…through the Salamander she would know that she was truly capable of reshaping the fractured bonds that both Man's world and Themyscira hold now. All she had to do…was change him…and she would do that.

 **AAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNDDDDDDDDDD THAT'S A WRAP! FINALLY! Another chapter finished! Wow, I am a really slow writer, aren't I? Haha I am so sorry, but the reason was that I lost my Flashdrive that held all my stories and chapters at my college which left me severely bummed out. I mean, REALLY bummed out.**

" **Umm…why didn't you just also save them to your desktop to avoid that situation…"**

 **Oh well that's simple to answer, random stranger. Why I didn't do that is because I'M A FREAKING MORON! …Or at least was one. Going to do that know that's for damn sure! Again, I want to apologize for the loooooooooooooooooooooooong wait, but it's here now! Next chapter will be the continuation of the episode, "The Enemy Below." Also, if Natsu seems harsher and more of an asshole, then I must tell you it's all for a reason. Trust me. I've crafted, and am still crafting, a particular backstory as to why Natsu is this way. I don't wanna be one of those writers that just snaps my fingers and forces a character to suddenly act totally different (i.e. some Naruto fics where he's all emo and stuff). I try to at least craft a viable scenario as to how and why a character would suddenly change their perspectives. So please trust me and I hope you are happy, or at least interested in the direction I'm taking the story.**

 **Now that that's all settled, I want to talk about something else before I end the chapter…SUPERHERO MOVIES! The ones I've recently seen anyways; Logan and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2. OH MY GOSH, FUCKING AMAZING MOVIES! Loved them so fucking much! Especially Logan. Oh my gosh, give Hugh Jackman a motherfucking Oscar because I cried manly tears, especially at the end…*sniff*… "Don't be what they made you."…if you saw the movie you'd know. And also, "T-There's water…" Fuck…this movie was amazing! Now, Guardians of the Galaxy vol.2, FUNNY AS FUCK! Loved the movie! I was also glad to see most of the characters further their emotional arcs as well in the movies, especially Nebula. Poor girl was in need of some more development. I had so much fun watching these two amazing superhero movies. It reminded me just how awesome these characters are. Now I just hope the Wonder Woman movie is gonna be good...hopefully. Although, I've heard good things about it so I remain optimistic. Gotta say though, Logan…AMAZING! Sorry, just really loved that movie. Thank you, Hugh Jackman, for an astounding and loyal performance towards a beloved Marvel character for 17 years. Hope to see you in other movies…and perhaps when you're older you can really play Old Man Logan…probably not, but wouldn't that be amazing?**

 **OKAY! Now, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and if you did, please leave a favorite, follow, and REVIEW!**


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